AmpliMed Secures $8.5 Million in Additional Series B Financing; Oncology Drug Development Company to Use Funds to Achieve Milestones in Clinical Development.TUCSON, Ariz. -- AmpliMed[R] Corporation today announced a second closing of its Series B Preferred private placement of $8.5 million, raising the total invested in the round to approximately $14.6 million. The Series B was led by Biotech Insight Ventures and included InvestBio Ventures, Valley Ventures and Solstice solstice (sŏl`stĭs) [Lat.,=sun stands still], in astronomy, either of the two points on the ecliptic that lie midway between the equinoxes (separated from them by an angular distance of 90°). Capital, all of whom were previous investors. To date, AmpliMed has raised more than $24 million in financing. "AmpliMed continues to achieve significant milestones in the development of its anticancer drugs Anticancer Drugs Definition Anticancer, or antineoplastic, drugs are used to treat malignancies, or cancerous growths. Drug therapy may be used alone, or in combination with other treatments such as surgery or radiation therapy. ," said Joel R. Smolen, Managing General Partner at Biotech Insight Management, L.L.C., which manages Biotech Insight Ventures L.P. "We are very excited about the Company's accomplishments over this past year and look forward to the outcomes of several key clinical trials in melanoma and pancreas cancer scheduled to be completed early next year." AmpliMed's multi-center studies using a combination of Amplimexon[R] and common chemotherapeutic agents This is a list of specific pharmacologic agents that are known to be of use in the treatment of cancer, otherwise known as chemotherapeutic agents. This list is organized by "type" of agent, though the subsections are not necessarily definitive and are subject to revision. in Stage IV metastatic Metastatic The term used to describe a secondary cancer, or one that has spread from one area of the body to another. Mentioned in: Coagulation Disorders metastatic pertaining to or of the nature of a metastasis. melanoma (Phase II) and advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma adenocarcinoma: see neoplasm. (Phase Ib) are scheduled to be completed early next year. An additional trial in patients with breast, lung and prostate cancer prostate cancer, cancer originating in the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in men. is also underway. "Our investors' support underscores their commitment to our clinical development program and our growing pipeline of anticancer therapies," said Robert A. Ashley, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of AmpliMed. "These new funds will enable us to complete our current Phase I and II trials of Amplimexon and position the Company to launch into the next phase of our clinical development program." About Amplimexon Amplimexon is the name of AmpliMed's formulation of imexon for injection. Imexon is a cyanoaziridine compound which showed tantalizing tan·ta·lize tr.v. tan·ta·lized, tan·ta·liz·ing, tan·ta·liz·es To excite (another) by exposing something desirable while keeping it out of reach. evidence of activity in limited studies in lung cancer lung cancer, cancer that originates in the tissues of the lungs. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States in both men and women. Like other cancers, lung cancer occurs after repeated insults to the genetic material of the cell. , melanoma and breast cancer that were documented in publications in the 1980s. The potential of imexon as a cancer drug was never fully explored, until 1994, when AmpliMed co-founding scientists Drs. Evan Hersh, David Alberts, Robert Dorr and William Remers initiated a program to decipher Amplimexon's novel mechanism of action. This led to the initiation in 2003 of a Phase I clinical study of the drug as a stand-alone therapy in late-stage cancer patients. Further preclinical research revealed that the combined use of Amplimexon and certain other chemotherapeutics resulted in a significant increase in efficacy compared to either drug alone. These findings are now being translated into a series of Phase I/II clinical studies of combination therapy in patients with various types of cancer. About AmpliMed Corporation AmpliMed Corporation was founded in 1989 with the support of the University of Arizona (body, education) University of Arizona - The University was founded in 1885 as a Land Grant institution with a three-fold mission of teaching, research and public service. Technology Development Corporation and is focused on the clinical development of chemotherapeutic agents for cancer. AmpliMed's strategy is to develop anti-cancer drugs with novel mechanisms of action designed to overcome some of the limitations, such as myelosuppression (suppression of blood cell counts blood cell count, n an estimation of the number and types of circulating blood cells (e.g., red blood cells [erythrocytic series], white blood cells, differential). ), multi-drug resistance (treatment-induced resistance to many cancer drugs) and cardiac toxicity, frequently associated with current cancer therapy. The company's lead product, Amplimexon (imexon for inj.), is in Phase II clinical trials. Other products in the company's portfolio include benzimate which entered the clinic in 2006, Amplizone[TM], expected to enter the clinic in 2007, and a portfolio of derivatives of each of the lead compounds for future development. AmpliMed Corporation is based in Tucson, Arizona and is on the Web at http://www.amplimed.com. AmpliMed, Amplimexon and Amplizone are United States trademarks of AmpliMed Corporation. |
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