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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (August 5, 2005) - John A. Secrist, III, Ph.D., vice president of Drug Discovery at Southern Research, will give a presentation on clofarabine, the first new pediatric leukemia drug to receive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in more than 10 years, at the 10th Anniversary Drug Discovery Technology & Development Conference to be held in Boston, August 8-11. The presentation will take place on August 10 at 3:25 pm EST. Representatives of Southern Research will be located in booth #407 at the Boston conference.
Dr. Secrist co-invented clofarabine with John Montgomery, Ph.D. at Southern Research. The drug was subsequently out-licensed to Bioenvision, Inc. who later sub-licensed the U.S. rights to Genzyme Corp. Clofarabine received FDA approval in December 2004, and was introduced to the U.S. market in January 2005 for the treatment of pediatric relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
“Clofarabine is a case study of Southern Research’s ability to develop therapeutic agents that can have a profound impact on addressing patients’ unmet medical needs,” said Dr. Secrist. “The clofarabine program was originally developed in Southern Research labs. We then partnered with other companies who brought this promising drug through the clinical and regulatory process and to the patient’s bedside. This is what we all aspire to as drug discovery researchers, moving life-saving compounds from conception to clinic.”
Southern Research has an exceptional track record in cancer drug discovery, having discovered six of the FDA-approved anti-cancer drugs on the market with three more drugs in clinical trials. In addition to its work in cancer, Southern Research conducts significant drug discovery and development research in emerging pathogens and infectious diseases, and CNS/neurological disorders. Southern Research has screened more than 60 percent of all FDA-approved cancer drugs and more than 70 percent of all FDA-approved antimicrobial drugs.
Southern Research is one of nine U.S. research organizations recently selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to participate in the NIH Roadmap Molecular Libraries initiative to support multidisciplinary medical research to discover new drugs. Southern Research also directs the Antimicrobial Acquisition and Coordinating Facility (formerly the TAACF) funded by the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the search for new antimicrobial drugs, including tuberculosis. Southern Research has also recently announced drug discovery programs with major pharmaceutical companies in their search for new drug compounds.
About Clofarabine
Clofarabine is a next-generation member of the drug class, purine nucleoside analogs, that inhibits DNA production necessary for cancer cell growth. Clofarabine was approved under the FDA's accelerated approval process, which was established for serious or life-threatening diseases such as ALL where a product may provide meaningful therapeutic benefit to patients over existing treatments. Clofarabine, also known as Clolar™, is indicated for the treatment of pediatric patients 1 to 21 years old with relapsed or refractory ALL after at least two prior regimens. This use is based on the induction of complete responses. Randomized trials demonstrating increased survival or other clinical benefit have not been conducted. Clofarabine has been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of adult and pediatric ALL and AML in the U.S. and Europe.
ABOUT SOUTHERN RESEARCH
Alabama-based, full-service contract research organization Southern Research provides quality essential services in preclinical drug discovery and development for a wide range of diseases. With six FDA-approved drugs and another three in clinical trials, Southern Research continues to demonstrate research excellence and partnering value in the search for tomorrow’s breakthrough discoveries. For more information, visit www.southernresearch.org.
Media Contact: Rhonda Jung, Southern Research, 205-581-2317, jung@southernresearch.org