LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR), a biopharmaceutical research and development company specializing in oncology, today highlighted that key emerging cancer treatment trends by Big Pharma, including combining immunotherapy with effective chemotherapy regimens, are resulting in significant advancements for the treatment of patients with high unmet medical need types of cancer.  CytRx, along with its wholly owned subsidiary Centurion Biopharma, believe these trends strengthen and enhance the value proposition for their rationally designed albumin binding ultra-high potency anti-cancer agents.

Aldoxorubicin in Combination with High Affinity Natural Killer (haNK) Cells

Aldoxorubicin, CytRx's first albumin binding cytotoxic agent, was designed to increase the efficacy and overcome the cardiotoxic side effects of the anthracycline agent doxorubicin.  In its clinical trials, aldoxorubicin demonstrated a significant improvement in progression-free survival compared to investigator's choice therapy in patients with certain types of soft tissue sarcoma.  The rights to aldoxorubicin were acquired by NantCell, Inc. in 2017, and aldoxorubicin is now being investigated in clinical trials in combination with immunotherapy or NantCell's high-affinity natural killer (haNK) cell therapy in certain high unmet need cancer indications, including advanced squamous cell carcinoma, metastatic pancreatic and triple negative breast cancers.

"Among the most compelling recent medical advances by Big Pharma has been the efficacy seen when immunotherapy is combined with chemotherapy, especially in certain high unmet medical need cancers such as non-small cell lung and triple negative breast cancers," said Eric Curtis, CytRx's President and Chief Operating Officer. "In addition to finding better treatments for these patients, there is an equally urgent need for better cytotoxic agents, ones that can be administered in higher doses while avoiding the commonly associated toxicities.  Aldoxorubicin was important to our pipeline because it achieved validating proof of concept for the albumin binding thesis and we believe that its target-specific drug delivery properties have the potential to enhance the effects of immunotherapy."

LADR™ Drug Candidates in Combination with Immunotherapy

Centurion BioPharma's LADR™ (Linker Activated Drug Release) technology employs a broad portfolio of novel linker molecules that selectively bind to circulating albumin and have the ability to be linked to a wide variety of anti-cancer payloads.  Centurion's LADR™ drug candidates, LADR-7, LADR-8, LADR-9 and LADR-10, utilize the anti-cancer agents maytansine and auristatin E to maximize tumor cell kill potential while minimizing systemic toxicity.  Centurion believes these agents have the potential to be combined with immunotherapies to improve the efficacy and safety of treatments for cancers that have typically been difficult to treat.  At the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2018 Annual Meeting, scientific research was presented which described the breakthrough data supporting Centurion's selection of its current LADR assets for advancement toward Investigational New Drug-enabling studies. These targeted compounds demonstrated excellent, long-term antitumor activity across a wide range of human solid tumor cancer types, including lung, breast, ovarian, head and neck, renal cell, and melanoma.

"The approach of combining immunotherapy and chemotherapy or targeted agents is clearly becoming the 'wave of the future' for the treatment of cancer and Big Pharma are leading these breakthroughs.  Centurion and CytRx are thrilled to be a part of this emerging movement," concluded Mr. Curtis.

About Centurion BioPharma Corporation

CytRx's wholly owned subsidiary, Centurion BioPharma Corporation, is focused on the development of personalized medicine that will transform solid tumor treatment. This transformational strategy combines a portfolio of novel, anti-cancer drug candidates that employ LADR™ (Linker Activated Drug Release) technology, a discovery engine designed to leverage Centurion's expertise in albumin biology and linker technology for the development of a new class of breakthrough anti-cancer therapies with a unique albumin companion diagnostic (ACDx) that can help identify patients who are most likely to benefit from treatment with the LADR™-derived therapies. A critical element of the LADR™ platform is its ability to bind anti-cancer molecules to circulating albumin, the most ubiquitous protein in human blood plasma, and then to release the highly potent cytotoxic payload at the tumor site. This technology allows for the delivery of higher doses of drug directly to the tumor, while avoiding much of the off-target toxicity observed with the parent molecules.

About CytRx Corporation

CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR) is a biopharmaceutical company with expertise in discovering and developing new therapeutics to treat patients with cancer. CytRx's most advanced drug conjugate, aldoxorubicin, is an improved version of the widely used anti-cancer drug doxorubicin and has been out-licensed to NantCell, Inc. In addition, CytRx's other drug candidate, arimoclomol has been out-licensed to Orphazyme A/S (Nasdaq Copenhagen exchange). Orphazyme is testing arimoclomol in four indications including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Niemann-Pick disease Type C (NPC), Gaucher disease and sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis (sIBM). 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties relating to the continued use and growth of immunotherapy drugs by Big Pharma, the ability of NantCell, Inc., to obtain regulatory approval for its products that use aldoxorubicin; the ability of NantCell, Inc., to manufacture and commercialize products or therapies that use aldoxorubicin; the amount, if any, of future milestone and royalty payments that we may receive from NantCell, Inc.; risks and uncertainties relating to the ability of Orphazyme A/S to obtain regulatory approval for its products that use arimoclomol; the ability of Orphazyme A/S to manufacture and commercialize products or therapies that use arimoclomol; the amount, if any, of future milestone and royalty payments that we may receive from Orphazyme A/S; Centurion BioPharma Corporation's ability to develop new ultra-high potency drug candidates based on its LADR™ technology platform; our ability to attract potential licensees; and other risks and uncertainties described in the most recent annual and quarterly reports filed by CytRx with the Securities and Exchange Commission and current reports filed since the date of CytRx's most recent annual report. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to CytRx on the date the statements are first published. CytRx undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Relations Contact:
Argot Partners
Michelle Carroll
(212) 600-1902
michelle@argotpartners.com

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SOURCE CytRx Corporation