Rexahn Awarded U.S. Patent for Novel Anti-Cancer Compounds
ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: RNN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing potential best-in-class oncology therapies, today announced that it has significantly expanded its intellectual property around a series of novel anti-tumor quinazoline compounds. Rexahn has been issued patent No. 8,404,698 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, covering these novel quinazoline compounds, their pharmaceutical composition, and method for producing an anti-tumor effect.
The series of compounds included in this issued patent are inhibitors of an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFRs are cell surface receptors and mutations in these receptors can cause accelerated cell growth leading to lung and colon cancer. Mutated EGFRs account for approximately 30% of epithelial cancers. In preclinical trials, Rexahn’s patented compounds have demonstrated oral bioavailability and anti-tumor activity in an animal model that did not respond well to Taxol, an oncology drug used to treat lung, breast and ovarian cancer.
“With the granting of this patent, Rexahn is strongly positioned to develop this emerging class of exciting new oncology compounds and expand our preclinical pipeline. The preclinical activity of these compounds suggest their potential utility to treat multiple forms of cancer including non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), colon cancer, head and neck cancer and glioblastoma multiforme,” said Peter D. Suzdak, CEO of Rexahn.
About Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rexahn Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing best-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Rexahn currently has three clinical stage oncology candidates, Archexin®, RX-3117, and RX-5902 and a robust pipeline of preclinical compounds to treat multiple types of cancer. Rexahn has also developed proprietary drug discovery platform technologies in the areas of nano-medicines, 3D-GOLD, and TIMES. For more information, please visit www.rexahn.com.
Safe Harbor
To the extent any statements made in this press release deal with information that is not historical, these are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Rexahn’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations and products and other statements identified by words such as “will,” “potential,” “could,” “can,” “believe,” “intends,” “continue,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “may,” other words of similar meaning or the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Uncertainties and risks may cause Rexahn’s actual results to be materially different than those expressed in or implied by Rexahn’s forward-looking statements. For Rexahn, particular uncertainties and risks include, among others, the difficulty of developing pharmaceutical products, obtaining regulatory and other approvals and achieving market acceptance; the marketing success of Rexahn’s licensees or sublicensees; the success of clinical testing; and Rexahn’s need for and ability to obtain additional financing. More detailed information on these and additional factors that could affect Rexahn’s actual results are described in Rexahn’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release. Rexahn undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
The Trout Group LLC
Tricia Swanson, 646-378-2953
[email protected]
Source: Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Released June 17, 2013