Actinium Pharmaceuticals reaches milestone with in-licensed monoclonal antibody
NEWARK, N.J., July 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (API), a biopharmaceutical company that develops innovative targeted payload immunotherapeutics, announced that the Company made a regulatory milestone payment to Abbott Biotherapeutics Corp. following the launch of Actinium's multi-center Phase I/II clinical trial in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Acute Myeloid Leukemia is the most difficult form of leukemia to treat. The majority of patients do not qualify for the commonly used chemotherapy regimen and their median survival following diagnosis is about two months without treatment. The drug candidate being developed in this trial is Actimab-A, a construct developed using Lintuzumab, the monoclonal antibody licensed from Abbott Biotherapeutics Corp., formerly PDL, and Actinium's proprietary patented technology to deliver high doses of alpha irradiation directly to cancer cells while largely sparing healthy tissues.
"This payment reflects the significant progress our company has made over the last six months," said Dragan Cicic, MD, the CEO of Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc. "In addition to having successfully started our first multi-center trial, Actinium Pharmaceuticals is moving ahead with trial expansion and adding new product candidates. We remain on track in our development plan and look forward to continuing to report further strategic milestones."
Under the terms of the Abbott Biotherapeutics license, Actinium Pharmaceuticals makes payments to Abbott Biotherapeutics when certain key regulatory milestones are reached and will also make royalty payments on the sales of Actimab-A.
About Actimab-A
Actimab-A is a drug candidate construct made using Actinium Pharmaceuticals' proprietary patented technology for arming monoclonal antibodies with alpha emitters actinium 225 and bismuth 213. Antibodies are used as high precision delivery systems that bring powerful alpha emitters into or immediately next to targeted cancer cells. Actimab-A consists of the Lintuzumab monoclonal antibody and actinium 225.
Actinium-225 decays by giving off high-energy alpha particles, which kill cancer cells. When actinium decays, it produces a series of daughter atoms, each of which gives off its own alpha particle, increasing the chances that the cancer cell will be destroyed. The technology was first demonstrated by Dr. David Scheinberg at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Lintuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets CD33, found on myeloid leukemia cells. It is the humanized version of M195, the antibody initially developed by Dr. David Scheinberg of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
About Actinium Pharmaceuticals
Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a U.S. based biopharmaceutical company that develops innovative alpha particle immunotherapeutics based on its proprietary platform for the therapeutic utilization of alpha particle emitting actinium-225 and bismuth-213 radiopharmaceuticals in association with monoclonal antibodies.
For more information:
Visit our web site www.actiniumpharmaceuticals.com or Contact:
Media:
Dennis S. Dobson Jr., 203-258-0159
Tel: (203) 258-0150
Email: [email protected]
www.dobsonmediagroup.com
Dr. Dragan Cicic, MD, CEO
Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Tel: (646) 459-4201
E-mail: [email protected]
Investors:
Jeff Ramson
ProActive Capital Group, LLC
Tel: (646) 863-6341
E-mail: [email protected]
www.proactivecrg.com
Forward-Looking Statement for Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. The forward-looking statements may include statements regarding product development, product potential, or financial performance. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Actinium Pharmaceuticals undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
SOURCE Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc.