Strong preclinical data on Mersana's XMT-1107

Mersana, a US platform-based cancer therapeutics company, reported positive preclinical data for its second development candidate,  XMT-1107, at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer  Research in Denver.

The studies showed that the novel anti-angiogenic fumagillin analog,  which is conjugated to Mersana's proprietary Fleximer, demonstrated  superior anti-tumor activity in tumor xenograft models in comparison to  other anti-angiogenic agents and extended exposure to the conjugated  drug, supporting the potential clinical utility of XMT-1107 as an  anticancer agent, the firm noted.

Company chief executive Julie Olson said: "earlier drugs in this class  showed promising activity in the clinic but, were discontinued due to  reversible neurological toxicity. Conjugation of our novel fumagillin  warhead to Fleximer using a specific linker technology reduces CNS  exposure in animal models to below detection limits. We look forward to  advancing XMT-1107 into clinical studies by early 2010."