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ACT Biotech, Inc. Profile
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ACT Biotech, Inc. ("ACT Biotech" or "the Company") is a closely held pharmaceutical company focused exclusively on the development and commercialization of novel cancer therapeutics. Following a spinout from Bayer HealthCare LLC, ACT Biotech was founded with worldwide rights to a portfolio of roughly 350 inlicensed compounds that now compose four oncology programs. Each program demonstrates activity against a different set of molecular targets—including several kinases that are associated with cancer cell communication and growth—in order to inhibit various signaling pathways that are important in tumor development. ACT Biotech's lead candidate, Telatinib, is designed to be a potent and selective oral compound that targets pathways associated with the formation of tumor-related blood vessels (angiogenesis). While the Company has selected gastric (stomach) cancer as Telatinib's lead clinical target, the agent has also demonstrated potential as a drug candidate to treat colorectal, liver, and kidney cancers. In addition, based on its clinical profile, Telatinib may have a future opportunity to treat other major cancers, such as lung, breast, and prostate cancers. Approximately 21,500 new cases of gastric cancer occur in the U.S. annually, and the five-year survival rate for any stage of stomach cancer is only 20%. The Company aims to initiate two open-label Phase II clinical trials with Telatinib in gastric and colorectal cancer patients during the second quarter 2009. ACT Biotech's second product candidate is the Multi-Mode Kinase Inhibitor (ACTB1003), an oral anticancer compound that works via several mechanisms of action: (1) targeting select kinases that are altered in human cancers; (2) inhibiting angiogenesis; and (3) inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death). When evaluated against other oral, commercially available, targeted agents, ACTB1003 demonstrated greater anti-tumor activity in vivo. The compound may have utility in several major indications, including non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, multiple myeloma, bladder cancer, and melanoma. The Company intends to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ACTB1003 by mid-2009. ACT Biotech, which was founded in early 2008, is currently following a three-year operating plan during which it intends to pursue various strategic partnering agreements.
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