Erytech to presents new preclinical data on ERY-MET at the 2017 ASCO GI Symposium

Erytech Pharma’s new data supporting the second company’s product candidate ERY-MET will be presented at the 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium co-sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO GI), being held January 19 – 21, 2017 in San Francisco, California.

The research will be presented during the poster session of the symposium by the first author of the abstract, Dr. Vanessa Bourgeaux, the Company’s R&D Project Leader.

The findings from the preclinical studies demonstrate that ERY-MET, which is methionine gamma-lyase-encapsulated in red blood cells (RBC) developed using the company’s proprietary ERYCAPS encapsulation platform technology, can inhibit tumor growth in a murine model of human gastric adenocarcinoma. This effect can be regulated by Vitamin B6 supplementation, the company explained in its press release issued on Wednesday.

Methionine is an essential amino acid, which all cells need to grow and multiply. More particularly, fast-growing tumor cells exhibit very high requirements of methionine to proliferate. The enzyme methionine gamma-lyase (MGL) mediates tumor starvation via systemic lowering of methionine levels. MGL is an enzyme with a short half-life and is dependent on a co-factor, a Vitamin B6 derivative, to function. Encapsulating MGL in RBCs extends the half-life significantly and the conversion of Vitamin B6 to the co-factor happens naturally inside the RBC.

The company’s research team determined the plasma methionine level reduction as a pharmacodynamics biomarker and analyzed the anti-tumor activity of weekly ERY-MET injections in mice. The study found that ERY-MET, in combination with daily Vitamin B6 supplementation, increased active MGL half-life in vivo, from less than 24 hours to 8-9 days. The combined ERY-MET and Vitamin B6 treatment exhibited anti-tumor activity in 100% of treated mice, with tumor growth inhibitions varying from 91% to 100% by the end of the study.

Dr. Bourgeaux stated, “We had already identified the potential of ERY-MET as a tumor starvation agent in a mouse model of glioblastoma. This work, demonstrating that ERY-MET can also induce tumor growth inhibition in mice with human gastric adenocarcinoma and achieving an almost complete regression, strengthens the Company’s current strategy to develop product candidates based upon its proprietary ERYCAPS platform as potential treatments for various oncology indications in addition to blood cancers. We believe ERY-MET shows significant promise as a new anti-tumor drug to treat gastric and other recalcitrant cancers.”