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Genta Receives Key Patent Related to Oral Gallium Compound G4544
Monday, April 14, 2008
Berkeley Heights, NJ -- Genta Incorporated (Nasdaq: GNTA) today announced that the Company has received notice that its patent application covering novel pharmaceutical gallium compositions and complexes has been allowed by the U.S. Patent Office. Issued U.S. Patent 7,354,952 extends the intellectual property surrounding the Company's franchise of oral gallium-containing products that are intended as potential treatment for diseases associated with accelerated bone loss. The lead compound in this investigational pipeline, G4544, was developed in collaboration with Emisphere Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: EMIS) and has completed its initial Phase 1 dose-ranging study. Results of this study will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) that takes place in Chicago, IL from May 30-June 3, 2008.
With continued progress in the oral formulation program, the Company has elected to seek a buyer for the intravenous formulation of its on-market product from this franchise, Ganite (gallium nitrate injection). The active ingredient in both Ganite and G4544 is ionic gallium, which is reversibly incorporated into bone where its acts as a potent inhibitor of bone resorption and possibly as a mild anabolic agent to enhance bone formation. Ganite is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of patients with cancer-related hypercalcemia that is resistant to hydration. Ganite is exclusively marketed in the U.S. by Genta and is available to patients outside the U.S. on a "named-patient" basis.
About Genta
Genta Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company with a diversified product portfolio that is focused on delivering innovative products for the treatment of patients with cancer. Two major programs anchor the Company's research platform: DNA/RNA-based Medicines and Small Molecules. Genasense (oblimersen sodium) Injection is the Company's lead compound from its DNA/RNA Medicines program. Genta is currently recruiting patients to the AGENDA Trial, a global Phase 3 trial of Genasense in patients with advanced melanoma. The leading drug in Genta's Small Molecule program is Ganite (gallium nitrate injection), which the Company is exclusively marketing in the U.S. for treatment of symptomatic patients with cancer related hypercalcemia that is resistant to hydration. The Company has developed G4544, an oral formulation of the active ingredient in Ganite, that has recently entered clinical trials as a potential treatment for diseases associated with accelerated bone loss. The Company is also developing tesetaxel, a novel, orally absorbed, semi- synthetic taxane that is in the same class of drugs as paclitaxel and docetaxel. Ganite and Genasense are available on a "named-patient" basis in countries outside the United States. For more information about Genta, please visit our website at: www.genta.com.
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