Rexahn Pharma Wins US Patent for Novel Anti-Cancer Compounds

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing potential best-in-class oncology therapies, today announced that it has significantly expanded its intellectual property around a series of novel anti-tumor quinazoline compounds. Rexahn has been issued patent No. 8,404,698 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, covering these novel quinazoline compounds, their pharmaceutical composition, and method for producing an anti-tumor effect. The series of compounds included in this issued patent are inhibitors of an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFRs are cell surface receptors and mutations in these receptors can cause accelerated cell growth leading to lung and colon cancer. Mutated EGFRs account for approximately 30% of epithelial cancers. In preclinical trials, Rexahn's patented compounds have demonstrated oral bioavailability and anti-tumor activity in an animal model that did not respond well to Taxol, an oncology drug used to treat lung, breast and ovarian cancer.