Peplin lead molecule active against leukaemia

Peplin Biotech (ASX:PEP) has claimed its lead molecule PEP005 has shown highly selective activity against acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) in pre-clinical studies.

In the studies, primary AML blast cells were extracted from eight patients and treated ex vivo with PEP005. In seven of the eight samples the treatment induced programmed cell death, or apoptosis, at very low concentrations. By contrast, healthy human cord blood myeloid cells proved far less sensitive to PEP005.

"The potential of any chemotherapeutic drug as an intravenous treatment for cancer is based not only on the sensitivity of cancer cells to the drug but also on the relative insensitivity of normal healthy cells," said Peplin’s managing director and CEO Michael Aldridge in a statement. "The two studies that we have recently completed indicate that AML cells are dramatically more sensitive to PEP005 than normal healthy cells."

The studies build on research conducted by Prof Janet Lord's group, at the Medical Research Council Centre for Immune Regulation at Birmingham University.

Peplin intends to prepare and lodge an IND application with the US Food and Drug Administration and to initiate clinical trials of an intravenous formulation of PEP005 to treat leukaemia. PEP005 was developed from research by former CSIRO biochemist Dr James Aylward, and is an extract of Euphorbia peplus, commonly known as milkweed.

Earlier this month, Peplin’s US partner, Allergan, filed two amended IND applications with the FDA for PEP005 as a topical formulation for skin cancer treatment.