Annexin announces success in the company's cancer initiative

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Annexin Pharmaceuticals today announces important progress in the company's preclinical cancer research where the drug candidate ANXV has shown promising results as a transporter of chemotherapy drugs to kill cancer cells.

Within the framework of Annexin's cancer initiative, the company has successfully produced a so-called conjugate where the drug candidate ANXV is chemically bound to a chemotherapy agent and together forms a new composite molecule. In cell systems outside the body, this ANXV conjugate has been shown to kill a type of cancer cell taken from a person with triple-negative breast cancer, a very difficult-to-treat form of breast cancer. The chemotherapy agent alone was not effective on this highly resistant cell type and with no immune cells present in the cell system ANXV was, as expected, also not effective.

"The results we have seen are very exciting as it means that our drug candidate ANXV has the potential to be used together with known chemotherapy drugs to develop new cancer drugs in areas where there are currently no effective treatments. In addition, fewer and milder side effects are expected because the ANXV conjugate is expected to be specifically targeted to the cancer," says Anna Frostegård, CSO and CMO of Annexin Pharmaceuticals.

"Much work remains to be done before treatment of patients can take place, but an important milestone within our cancer initiative that was set in December 2022, at the time of the directed share issue, has now been achieved," says Anders Haegerstrand, CEO of Annexin Pharmaceuticals.

Annexin has chosen to drive development towards new cancer treatments based on the fact that many different cancer cells expose the substance phosphatidylserine (PS), ANXV's target molecule, on their surface. One part of the company's cancer initiative involves the development of ANXV conjugates. In a process of conjugation, a cytotoxic agent is chemically bound to ANXV and the expected therapeutic effect will be achieved when cancer cells exposing PS on the surface, transports the conjugate into the cell where the chemotherapy drug gets separated from ANXV and then exerts its cytotoxic effect.

The principle of linking chemotherapy drugs to proteins that target cancer cells is well known and used in many approved drugs. The market for conjugate drugs in oncology is expected to reach more than USD 10 billion within a few years. An ANXV conjugate may become the first conjugate drug that takes advantage of the presence of PS on the surface of cells in many difficult-to-treat type of cancers.

For further information, please contact:

Anders Haegerstrand, CEO, tel +4670 - 575 50 37

About Annexin Pharmaceuticals AB

Annexin Pharmaceuticals AB is a leading biotechnology company in the Annexin A5 field for the treatment of various diseases. The company's biological drug candidate ANXV - a human recombinant protein, Annexin A5 - is primarily intended for treatment of patients with injuries and inflammation of the blood vessels, but also for cancer. The company has an extensive patent portfolio for the treatment of diseases with Annexin A5 and for production of Annexin A5.

The Company is based in Stockholm, Sweden and listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market, under the ticker ANNX. Redeye is the company's Certified Adviser.

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SOURCE Annexin Pharmaceuticals AB