Peplin pre-clinical results published

Brisbane biotech Peplin (ASX:PEP) was celebrating some good news today, announcing that the pre-clinical results of the action of its lead anti-cancer compound PEP005 against leukaemia have been published in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology.

The company announced last year that PEP005 had highly selective ex vivo activity against acute myelogenous leukaemia cells in a pre-clinical trial.

"The research shows that PEP005 has potent anti-leukemia properties and that healthy cells were unaffected by the same concentration of PEP005, indicating the potential for a broad therapeutic window," said Peplin managing director Michael Aldridge.

"An additive effect of PEP005 when used in combination with ATRA -- a commonly used anti-leukemia drug -- was noted, indicating the potential for combination therapy," he said.

The results of additional research undertaken by Peplin were also reported in the paper. It suggests that PEP005's works by activating the delta isoform of protein kinase C. The company said this information may provide a biomarker for a simple test to identify patients who could benefit from this therapy.