NIH, L&LS and U of Kansas to Collaborate on Arthritis Drug to Treat CLL

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NIH and Non-profits Sign Research and Development Agreement

The National Institutes of Health today announced an agreement with two

non-profit organizations to accelerate the development of potential clinical

therapies for rare blood cancers.

The collaboration's first project is a pilot effort under the TRND program that

focuses on further development of an existing small molecule drug used to treat

arthritis called auranofin. Auranofin will be evaluated as a treatment for

relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) — one of the four major types of

leukemia and one that typically affects older people. The goal is to accelerate

the development of this drug and complete preclinical through clinical trial

studies within two years, at which time an industry partner will be engaged.

Approximately 15,000 people in the United States receive a diagnosis of CLL each

year. CLL is currently treated with various chemotherapies, but patients

eventually reach a stage where they become resistant to this treatment and can

die as a result. In addition, chemotherapy can be quite toxic, whereas auranofin

has received regulatory approval and was demonstrated to be reasonably safe and

effective in the treatment of arthritis.

Wiestner, M.D., Ph.D., an investigator in the NHLBI's Hematology Branch,

said:

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a complex disease that, while treatable,

cannot be cured with chemotherapy. There is an especially urgent need to develop

novel therapies for chemotherapy-resistant disease, and through this agreement

the Hematology Branch can bolster its clinical and translational research

program in this disease as well as other hematologic conditions with unmet

clinical needs.

Source: NIH News

Published on Wednesday, May 25, 2011