ORLANDO, Fla. and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2010
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Pharmacyclics, Inc. (Nasdaq:
PCYC) today announced data from three Chronic Lymphocytic
Leukemia (CLL) presentations at the American Society of Hematology
(ASH) Annual Meeting describing the Btk-selective inhibitor
PCI-32765. Two presentations report preclinical data, and one
presentation reports clinical data from a pooled analysis of 54
patients with CLL or Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL) treated with
PCI-32765.
The two preclinical abstracts focus on the mechanism of action
of this novel drug. An oral presentation titled “Bruton’s
Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor PCI-32765 Abrogates BCR and Nurselike
Cell-Derived Activation of CLL Cells In Vitro and In Vivo”
is being presented by Sabine Ponader, PhD from the MD Anderson
Cancer Center. The other preclinical presentation is a poster
presented by Sarah Herman, PhD of the laboratory of John Byrd, MD,
of The Ohio State University titled “The Kinase Inhibitor,
PCI-32765, Demonstrates Activity in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Cells Independent of Microenvironmental Survival Signals.” Data
from these two presentations together suggest a model whereby
PCI-32765 directly affects CLL cells by inducing apoptosis, and
also blocks the ability of CLL cells to migrate to and to adhere to
lymph nodes, a protective environment where the tumors grow. The
clinical results of treatment, as discussed below, appear to bear
out these combined mechanisms, with evidence of impairment of both
homing to lymph nodes and cell viability in the typical clinical
response to PCI-32765.
Data Results from the Pooled Phase IA and IB Studies in
CLL/SLLThe oral presentation, titled “The Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase
Inhibitor PCI-32765 is Well Tolerated and Demonstrates Promising
Clinical Activity In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and Small
Lymphocytic Lymphom
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