More on the Genesence and Rituximab Combination

[Guest guest]

Note company says it will 'quickly' move to

combination trials of Genesense and rituximab.

Although this article concerns lymphoma, we know that

Bcl-2 seems to be a factor in CLL as well.

New Studies Show Genasense Potentiates Anticancer

Actions of Taxotere® and Rituxan®

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., April 8

/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

Genta Incorporated (Nasdaq: GNTA) announced today that

two new studies have

shown that Genasense, the Company's lead

anticancer compound, strongly

enhanced the anticancer activity of two leading

anticancer agents, Taxotere®

(docetaxel; Aventis Pharma, SA) and Rituxan®

(rituximab; Genentech, Inc.).

Results from these separate preclinical studies were

presented at the annual

meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research

(AACR) in San

Francisco.

Dr. Jill Lacy and colleagues from Yale University

tested the effects of Genasense and Rituxan in mice

with human lymphoma.

Previous studies by this group had shown that

Genasense used alone

down-regulated Bcl-2, the protein target of Genasense

treatment, and

stimulated apoptosis (programmed cell death). While

Genasense significantly

prolonged survival, it was not curative when used

alone.

In the

current study, untreated animals with lymphoma expired

at a median time of

44 days. Rituxan alone increased survival to 59 days,

whereas Genasense alone

increased survival to 71 days. However, neither agent

was curative when used

by itself. In the combination study, Genasense plus

Rituxan increased

survival to 150+ days, and 5 of 7 animals were

ultimately proven to be free of

disease.

Genta plans to quickly explore the Genasense/Rituxan

synergy in several

new trials this year. Clinical confirmation of the

documented synergy between

Genasense and these two agents is a key feature of our

future development

programs. "

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