Texas A&M’s buildings already are smoke-free, but campus administrators are mulling a tobacco ban around the perimeter of buildings because a cancer research institute is now requiring grant recipients to comply with new tobacco-free guidelines.

The Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas has given out $3.4 million to Texas A&M University since 2010, according to a grant database on its website. Its new guidelines, adopted by an oversight committee in January, has caused universities and institutions across the state to examine their tobacco policies.

In addition to banning tobacco products in all buildings in which CPRIT-funded research takes place, the institute has extended the ban to adjacent sidewalks, parking lots, walkways and adjacent parking structures.

Texas A&M spokesman Jason Cook noted that the university has more than 5,200 acres and more than 500 buildings, so administrators are carefully examining the issue.

“It’s a very significant proposition to declare the entire campus smoke-free or tobacco-free,” Cook said.

He said that Jeff Seemann, Texas A&M’s vice president for research and chief research officer of the A&M System, is taking a look at the issue. It’s a university rule, not a System policy, so Board of Regents approval would not be needed, Cook said.

Voters created the institute by constitutional amendment in 2007 and authorized the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund state cancer research and prevention programs. It so far has given out $600 million to 66 academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and private companies in Texas.

In a release last month, the institute’s executive director, Bill Gimson, said the new guidelines were an important step in the ongoing fight against cancer.

“The idea,” he said, “was recommended by a CPRIT advisory committee made up of members from a mix of backgrounds and locations in an effort to make a dent in the 25,000 Texans who die from tobacco each year.”

Implementation of the new guidelines wouldn’t be the only blow to the campus’ tobacco users. The A&M System has announced that all of its employees who use tobacco will be charged a $30-a-month premium for health insurance.

http://www.theeagle.com/local/A-amp-amp-M-mulls-smoking-ban–7038733

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals has raised $20 million in a Series B financing. The additional funding strengthens Bellicum’s balance sheet with $26 million of committed capital, including a $6.1 million award from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. New investors to the round include James Brown, AVG Ventures LP, and Dennis Stone, MD, Remeditex Ventures.

PRESS RELEASE

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has raised $20 million in a Series B financing. The funding will be used to advance its lead CaspaCIDe™ and DeCIDe™ programs through Phase 2 clinical development.

The additional funding strengthens Bellicum’s balance sheet with $26 million of committed capital, including a $6.1 million award from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Current and new investors contributed to the
B round. New investors James Brown, AVG Ventures LP, and Dennis Stone, M.D., Remeditex Ventures, will both join Bellicum’s Board of Directors.

“We are pleased that our clinical programs continue to attract interest and capital from a wide range of sources,” said Tom Farrell, CEO of Bellicum. “We now have the funding necessary to advance two exciting oncology products, both based on our core CID technology, up to registration studies.”

The new funding will be made available to the Company in two equal tranches, with one-half, or approximately $10 million, paid immediately. The balance will be paid upon initiation of the next phase of clinical trials for its two lead products, expected in the third quarter of 2012.

“Bellicum has advanced two exciting products into mid-stage development that address significant unmet medical need,” said Dennis Stone, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Remeditex Ventures. “We believe the company is poised to become an important product innovator, addressing large market diseases in both oncology and immunology.”

Bellicum plans to initiate a Phase 2 DeCIDe vaccine study in 2012. BPX-101 is a therapeutic cancer vaccine being developed for the treatment of patients with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The product contains matured, prostate cancer antigen-expressing dendritic cells that have been modified to allow in vivo activation by a proprietary drug, AP1903, in order to induce a potent anti-cancer immune response.

Also in 2012, the Company plans to launch a Phase 1/2 study of a T cell infusion product for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), in which CaspaCIDe is used to treat graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a serious and sometime fatal transplant complication. Results from a recent proof-of-concept study with CaspaCIDe technology in patients with acute leukemia were published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing rapid and complete reversal of GVHD.

“Bellicum has shown that CID technology is able to control engineered cells inside the body, with potentially profound benefit in a variety of clinical settings,” commented James Brown, Manager of AVG Ventures. “The management team has accomplished this with a high degree of capital efficiency, and is now well positioned to advance its multi-product portfolio through mid-stage trials.”

About Bellicum Pharmaceuticals

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is developing clinical applications of chemical induction of dimerization (CID), a drug-based remote control technology that extends the physician’s reach beyond the point at which a treatment has been administered. Bellicum’s mission is to leverage this smart technology to bring safe, effective, innovative cell therapies to market for patients with serious and life threatening diseases. The company’s DeCIDe™ vaccines are designed to kill targeted cells by inducing a potent, durable, fully activated antigen-specific T cell immune response. BPX-101, an autologous DeCIDe vaccine, is in clinical development for patients with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). CaspaCIDe™ is a cell therapy safety switch, permitting the rapid elimination of cells in the event of toxicity. CaspaCIDe DLI is a donor T cell infusion administered following a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, in which the safety switch may be activated to resolve graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

http://www.pehub.com/139758/bellicum-pharmaceuticals-secures-series-b/

Dr. Jie Zheng, a member of the chemistry faculty at UT Dallas, has received more than $1.2 million in funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) for work on safer nanoparticles that can adhere to prostate tumor cells, making earlier diagnosis possible.

Dr. Zheng, assistant professor of chemistry, explores biomedical applications of tiny gold nanoparticles that respond to the acidic microenvironments of prostate tumors. When introduced in the body, the particles can take advantages of a slight difference in pH between the tumors and normal tissue, essentially lighting up cancer cells to which they adhere, making them easier to detect with a variety of medical imaging tools.

“Gold metal looks not just beautiful, but also is extremely useful on the nanoscale. When these gold particles are scaled down, they start showing many interesting properties that are not observed at the bulk level. One of such properties is fluorescence, which holds promise to improve the sensitivity in cancer diagnosis,” Zheng said.

Zheng’s group is also looking for ways to change the surface chemistry of the particles, so that the nanoparticles can be cleared out of the body after imaging diagnosis. Zheng is the latest UT Dallas faculty member to win a CPRIT award.  He joins two other faculty members, Dr. Jung-Mo Ahn and Dr. Raimund Ober, who have received research awards through CPRIT.

“We are extremely pleased that Jie Zheng earned this prestigious funding,” said Dr. John Ferraris, Chemistry Department head. “Dr. Zheng’s peers deemed his research worthy of such an award, and we look forward to the results of his work.”

Under its latest grant cycle, the institute is providing more than $100 million to Texas cancer research projects. Statewide, the institute has awarded more than $550 million in funding for cancer research, prevention and commercialization projects over the last two years. UT Dallas faculty members have earned research awards in each of CPRIT’s four funding cycles thus far.

“I am very honored to receive this award,” Zheng said. “We hope to achieve success in our own research, and to collaborate with others and eventually develop some clinically applicable nanotechnologies that make cancer diagnosis easier and earlier.”

Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 establishing CPRIT and authorizing the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund cancer research in the state.

http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2012/3/8-16321_Nanoparticle-Study-Attracts-State-Cancer-Research-_article-wide.html

The Texas Tech University System Board of Regents voted unanimously to approve new tobacco-use policies for Texas Tech, the Health Sciences Center and Angelo State University.

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas announced earlier this month a new tobacco-free policy for all current and future grantees.

The rule requires the prohibition of tobacco products by employees and visitors to buildings and structures where CPRIT-funded projects take place, as well as the sidewalks, parking lots, walkways and attached parking structures immediately adjacent that the extent the CPRIT-funded entity owns, leases or controls.

The tobacco-free policy encompasses all forms of tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookah, electronic cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff and chewing tobacco.

The tobacco-free policy only will affect buildings where research is being conducted with CPRIT funding.

Taylor Eighmy, vice president for research at Tech, said about five buildings will be tobacco-free, including an engineering building, human sciences, agriculture and experimental sciences.

The Health Sciences Center has been a smoke-free campus since September 1989.

The deadline to comply with the policy is Aug. 31.

http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2012-03-02/texas-tech-approves-policy-prohibiting-tobacco-some-buildings#.T1FBdfHXF9w

By REEVE HAMILTON

Published: February 18, 2012

2012 JAPAN PRIZE WINNER, BRIAN DRUKER, CONFIRMED TO KEYNOTE CPRIT FOUNDATION DINNER

AUSTIN, TX — February 2, 2012 — The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Foundation announces Brian J. Druker, M.D., Director of the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute, and JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research, will be the keynote speaker for the fourth CPRIT Foundation Annual Dinner on October 23, 2012.

The CPRIT Foundation Annual Dinner will take place at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin, Texas. The dinner occurs annually and is attended by leaders of the Texas community from universities, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, law firms, advocacy groups, biotechnology organizations, medical industries, legislators, state leaders and more. This is the CPRIT Foundation’s primary event of the year to raise funds toward its mission to enhance the efforts and expand the reach of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)—the Texas state agency devoted to finding a cure for cancer by funding innovative projects in cancer research, prevention, and commercialization.

Dr. Brian Druker plays a primary role at OHSU in guiding the Knight Cancer Institute to fulfill its vision and promise to the people of Oregon to make the state’s death rate from cancer the lowest in the U.S. Druker is widely known for his research and the identification and development of the compound that later became Gleevec®, a drug making a positive impact on many cancer treatment regimens by targeting cancer-specific cells. Druker is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research at OHSU and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Druker was honored with the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for contributions to cancer care and treatment, and is a recent recipient of the prestigious 2012 Japan Prize in Healthcare and Medical Technology for his achievements in groundbreaking cancer drugs.

Also to take place on October 23 is the CPRIT Foundation’s Breakthrough Roundtable Meeting boasting a high-level discussion among a panel of world-class researchers, oncologists and advocates. Vice Chairman of the CPRIT Oversight Committee Joseph S. Bailes, M.D., and Chief Scientific Officer and Nobel Laureate Alfred Gilman, M.D., Ph.D., will moderate the discussion.

The CPRIT Foundation events will kick off the fourth annual Innovations in Cancer Prevention and Research Conference to begin the following morning at the Austin Renaissance Hotel. Specialists from across the country are being recruited to provide insightful discussions throughout the two-and-a-half day conference. Additionally, posters will be presented by the brightest minds in Texas and beyond, including the 2012 CPRIT grant recipients. The conference organizers expect more than 850 leading scientific minds to come together for collaboration and innovation.

About the CPRIT Foundation

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Foundation enhances the efforts and expands the reach of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, the state agency dedicated to forging breakthroughs in cancer prevention and cures for all Texans. The CPRIT Foundation’s objectives include improving the health of all Texans by working with business and community leaders to create and promote cancer prevention programs; bringing more resources to Texas for cancer efforts by leveraging relationships with Federal agencies and private foundations; supplementing CPRIT’s efforts to attract and employ high caliber executives to effectively distribute $300 million in grants annually; convening an annual scientific exchange of innovative and game-changing ideas in cancer research and prevention; ensuring public awareness for all Texans regarding CPRIT’s investments in research and prevention; and supporting an unprecedented collaborative initiative among researchers, hospitals and academia committed to improving cancer care for Texans by rapidly translating scientific advances from the laboratory to the patient through statewide clinical trials. The CPRIT Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

About the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas

Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 establishing the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) and authorizing the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas.  CPRIT’s goal is to expedite innovation and commercialization in the area of cancer research and to enhance access to evidence-based prevention programs and services throughout the state.  CPRIT accepts applications and awards grants for a wide variety of cancer-related research and for the delivery of cancer prevention programs and services by public and private entities located in Texas.  More information about CPRIT is available at its website, www.cprit.state.tx.us.

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AUSTIN, Texas — “The people of Texas have given their overwhelming support for a groundbreaking state initiative to battle cancer. With Jimmy Mansour’s leadership, CPRIT will continue to develop more effective treatment and prevention programs, and ultimately help us find a cure for this terrible disease,” said Lt. Governor David Dewhurst while reappointing Jimmy Mansour of Austin to the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Oversight Committee.

Having started several telecommunications companies, Mansour brings proven entrepreneurial leadership to CPRIT.  He was appointed by Lt. Governor Dewhurst on June 20, 2008 and elected chairman of the Oversight Committee on August 14, 2008.

In August 2005, Mr. Mansour’s wife, Sarah, was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Over the course of her treatment, he became familiar with the various forms of treatment available to cancer patients, leading him to become active in cancer advocacy and promoting scientific studies in new cancer treatments.

CPRIT’s goal is to expedite innovation and commercialization in the area of cancer research and enhance access to evidence-based prevention programs and services throughout the state.

Under the guidance of the Oversight Committee, CPRIT accepts applications and awards grants for a wide variety of cancer-related research and for the delivery of cancer prevention programs and services by public and private entities located in Texas.

CPRIT is governed by 11 dedicated Texans who together comprise the Oversight Committee.  Nine board members are appointed by the Governor, Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House to serve staggered terms.

Mansour was appointed to the Governor’s Business Council in 2006 and the state’s Advisory Board of Economic Development Stakeholders in 2007. He is the founding chairman of CEO America, a non-profit organization providing education scholarships for low-income children in grades K-8.

By Katie Glueck | Thursday, February 9, 2012, 05:46 PM

University of Texas administrators announced today that they are considering making the entire campus tobacco-free.

The university already bans smoking in dorms, classrooms and other areas, but could expand that prohibition to include places like sidewalks and parking garages. Officials are considering a change after the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas, a major source of grant funding, decided earlier this month that all grant recipients would be required to maintain smoke-free campuses by March 1.

UT, which receives about $30 million from the institute, said an additional $88 million in potential grants from the organization is at stake.

In an announcement, administrators said the university is “currently working to evaluate and adapt its current ‘No Smoking’ policy, which will ultimately preserve tens of millions of dollars in funding for cancer research.”

Gary Susswein, director of the university’s media relations, said talks among faculty, administration and student representatives could begin as early as Friday.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – DALLAS – Feb. 6, 2012 – An endocrine hormone used in clinical trials as an anti-obesity and anti-diabetes drug causes significant and rapid bone loss in mice, raising concerns about its safe use, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have shown.

The hormone, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), promotes bone loss by enhancing the activity of a protein that stimulates fat cells but inhibits bone cells, researchers report in a study available online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “This hormone is a very potent regulator of bone mass,” said Dr. Yihong Wan, assistant professor of pharmacology and senior author of the study. “When we oversupply FGF21 in mice, it results in substantial bone loss.”

UT Southwestern scientists had been investigating this hormone’s properties since its discovery in 2005 as a potential drug. Bone loss was a side effect of another class of compounds that had been commonly used in the treatment of diabetes – activating the same protein in a manner similar to FGF21 – and leading the research team to investigate the bone effect of FGF21 in three kinds of mice. They found that rodents fed a drug form of the hormone over a two-week period lost 78 percent of their spongy bone. Mice engineered to produce excess FGF21 had similar effects. Conversely, researchers found mice completely lacking the hormone had comparable gains in bone mass. While the insulin-sensitizing effects of FGF21 make it a potentially powerful anti-obesity drug, that could be canceled out by risk of osteoporosis and fractures associated with bone loss, the investigators report.

“The bone effect is clear,” said Dr. David Mangelsdorf, chairman of pharmacology, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at UT Southwestern and one of the study’s corresponding authors. “It’s a tradeoff of benefits and risks, and the key will be to design the drug in such a way to leverage the two against each other, dialing out the side effects and dialing in the positive.”

In a related study online in Cell, researchers at the medical center identified how FGF21 regulates the activity of a diabetes-fighting compound in fat tissue, altering metabolism in response to starvation and resumed eating for survival-driven energy conservation.“FGF21 helps mobilize the fat in adipose tissue back to the liver and burn it. But when the animal is refed, it stops this process and immediately turns back to restoring fat. In one case, it turns this system on, and in the other, turns it off,” said Dr. Steven Kliewer, professor of molecular biology and pharmacology and senior author of the Cell paper.

UT Southwestern researchers involved in the PNAS study were Dr. Wei Wei, lead author and postdoctoral researcher in pharmacology; Dr. Paul Dutchak, postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience; Drs. Xunde Wang and Xushan Ding, postdoctoral researchers in pharmacology; Dr. Xueqian Wang, research associate in pharmacology; Angie Bookout, graduate student in internal medicine; Dr. Robert Gerard, associate professor of internal medicine; and Dr. Kliewer.

The scientists in the Cell study included Dr. Dutchak, lead author involved while a graduate student in pharmacology; Takeshi Katafuchi, instructor in pharmacology; Ms. Bookout; and Dr. Mangelsdorf.
Support for the studies came from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, March of Dimes, Robert A. Welch Foundation, National Institutes of Health and the HHMI.

Visit www.utsouthwestern.org/endocrinology to learn more about UT Southwestern’s clinical services in endocrinology, including diabetes.

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www.HealthNewsDigest.com

by Cody Tucker

Baylor College of Medicine has received a $1.6 million award from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

The money will be used to develop a comprehensive cervical cancer screening program for high-risk, uninsured and underinsured women in Harris County.

Goals for the project will be to figure out why some women do not get screenings and how best to get women with abnormal pap test results in for follow-ups.

“Support from CPRIT is an enormous boost not only for preventing cervical cancers for individual women in the community but also for figuring out how we can better assemble the health care model to help even large numbers of women in Texas and elsewhere,” said Dr. Matthew Anderson, who will serve as principal investigator, in a press release.

Dr. Anderson and Dr. Haleh Sangi-Haghpeykar will collaborate with Loretta Hanser to establish specialty women’s medical health clinics and streamline the process of following up on abnormal pap smears. Dr. Lois Ramondetta will serve as assistant program director.

The grant was one of 14 awards announced by CPRIT to Texas institutions and organizations totaling more than $29 million. Twelve of those grants will focus on cancer prevention.  

BCM has received more than $61 million in CPRIT funding since the institute began awarding cancer grants to Texas researchers in January 2010.

By BRADLEY J. FIKES

Texas offers a sweet deal for cancer fighters: funding for research to treat cancer or programs to prevent it.

A state agency, the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas, or CPRIT, was created by Texas voters in 2007, who endowed it with $3 billion in public funds for anti-cancer efforts.

Moreover, the Austin-based CPRIT seeks to boost Texas’ economy by funneling research and development efforts into the state.

That description sounds a lot like California’s $3 billion stem-cell research program, which state voters passed in 2004. It’s not a coincidence, said Jerry Cobbs, chief commercialization officer for CPRIT. Texas drew up its plan using California’s effort as a model.

CPRIT is the second-largest funder of cancer research in the country, behind the National Cancer Institute, Cobbs said.

The main difference is that CPRIT is willing to fund more experimental programs than NCI, which is based in Bethesda, Md., he said.

“We’ll take the risk,” Cobbs said. “If the program is specifically innovative enough, CPRIT will pull capital out and support a program.”

Contact CPRIT at http://www.cprit.state.tx.us, by email at cprit@cprit.state.tx.us, or by calling 512-463-3190.

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/business/the-eyes-of-texas-are-on-cancer/article_ff25bb69-9ffe-57f9-b251-c8cc74b64674.html#ixzz1lcpzI1WX

“Dr. Craig’s extensive experience in oncology drug development, including direct experience in bringing a hematology drug candidate through late-stage development and filings of a U.S. NDA and European MAA, will be invaluable to Sunesis as we prepare for our future milestones,” stated Daniel Swisher, Chief Executive Officer of Sunesis. “We enthusiastically welcome Adam to the team, and look forward to his contributions as we advance the VALOR trial to completion, execute on our regulatory strategies and prepare the market for an anticipated launch of vosaroxin in AML.”

As Chief Medical Officer of ChemGenex, Dr. Craig led the development program and regulatory strategies for omacetaxine, an investigational treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia, including serving as the lead presenter and moderator for a 2011 Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) presentation. Before joining ChemGenex in 2007, he was founding Chief Medical Officer at Innovive Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a hematology-focused company. Prior to joining Innovive, Dr. Craig held positions of increasing responsibility at ArQule Inc., Ilex Oncology Inc., and Antisoma plc. Dr. Craig received his medical qualifications from London University, a Ph.D. in molecular medicine from the University of Leeds, and an M.B.A. from the Open Business School in the United Kingdom. Dr. Craig is a member of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health Physicians (UK) and undertook post-graduate training in pediatrics and pediatric oncology. He also currently serves as a member of the Commercialization Review Council for the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas, a $3 billion fund for groundbreaking cancer research and prevention programs and services.

“With a promising activity and safety profile, robust Phase 2 data, a rigorous and well-designed pivotal trial underway and the potential to transform the treatment landscape for AML, vosaroxin represents one of the most exciting candidates in late-stage cancer drug development today,” stated Dr. Craig. “I am extremely pleased to be joining Sunesis at this exciting point in vosaroxin’s development, and I look forward to working closely with the Sunesis team and clinical investigators to build upon the significant momentum in the VALOR trial and bring it to a successful outcome.”

Sunesis also announced today that Eric H. Bjerkholt has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Finance, Chief Financial Officer, reflecting his significant contributions in the areas of corporate strategy, financial management and fundraising at Sunesis.

Mr. Swisher stated, “Eric has played a significant role in Sunesis’ evolution over the course of his eight year tenure. We are pleased to announce his promotion and continue to value his leadership, particularly as we look ahead to the commercialization of vosaroxin and to the strategic opportunities for leveraging Sunesis’ assets in markets around the world.”

Sunesis also announced that Steven B. Ketchum, Ph.D., will transition in February from his executive role as Senior Vice President, Research and Development, to a member of Sunesis’ Board of Directors, in order to take an executive role at a biopharmaceutical company based closer to his family home in New Jersey. Dr. Ketchum will transfer his executive responsibilities to Dr. Craig, and will continue to support corporate strategy as a Director.

Mr. Swisher continued, “We are indebted to Steve for his many contributions at the executive level, particularly his strong development and regulatory leadership and close collaboration with Dr. Judy Fox, our ongoing Program Leader, in advancing vosaroxin from Phase 2 into a rigorous, pivotal, multi-national Phase 3 trial. I look forward to his continued insights and leadership as a member of our Board. Through strong teamwork and investigator support, the VALOR trial is now recruiting patients at more than 110 sites in 14 countries, and Sunesis is on track to announce the outcome of an interim analysis in the third quarter of this year.”

About VALOR

VALOR is a Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pivotal trial in patients with first relapsed or refractory AML. The trial is expected to enroll 450 evaluable patients at more than 100 leading sites in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The VALOR trial is currently enrolling patients who are randomized one to one to receive either vosaroxin on days one and four in combination with cytarabine daily for five days, or placebo in combination with cytarabine. Additionally, the VALOR trial employs an innovative, adaptive trial design that allows for a one-time sample size adjustment by the DSMB at the interim analysis to maintain adequate power across a broader range of survival outcomes. The trial’s primary endpoint is overall survival. For more information on the VALOR trial, please visit www.valortrial.com .

The VALOR logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=8774 .

About Vosaroxin

Vosaroxin is a first-in-class anti-cancer quinolone derivative, (AQD), a class of compounds that has not been used previously for the treatment of cancer. Vosaroxin both intercalates DNA and inhibits topoisomerase II, resulting in replication-dependent, site-selective DNA damage, G2 arrest and apoptosis.

About AML

AML is a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of immature blast cells in the bone marrow. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 12,950 new cases of AML and approximately 9,050 deaths from AML in the U.S. in 2011. Additionally, it is estimated that prevalence of AML is approximately 25,000 in the U.S. AML is generally a disease of older adults, and the median age of a patient diagnosed with AML is about 67 years. AML patients with relapsed or refractory disease and newly diagnosed AML patients over 60 years of age with poor prognostic risk factors typically die within one year, resulting in an acute need for new treatment options for these patients.

About Sunesis Pharmaceuticals

Sunesis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new oncology therapeutics for the treatment of solid and hematologic cancers. Sunesis has built a highly experienced cancer drug development organization committed to advancing its lead product candidate, vosaroxin, in multiple indications to improve the lives of people with cancer. For additional information on Sunesis, please visit www.sunesis.com .

The Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=8773

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related to the design, conduct and results of the VALOR trial, vosaroxin’s efficacy, safety profile and commercial potential as a single agent and in combination with cytarabine, and the results of the planned interim analysis of the VALOR trial and related timing. Words such as “ongoing,” “future,” “advance,” “completion,” “anticipated,” “launch,” “promising,” “robust,” “potential,” “momentum,” “outcome,” “on track,” “look ahead,” and “adequate” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Sunesis’ current expectations. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Sunesis’ actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a results of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to Sunesis’ need for substantial additional funding to complete the development and commercialization of vosaroxin, risks related to Sunesis’ ability to raise the capital that it believes to be accessible and is required to fully finance the development and commercialization of vosaroxin, the risk that raising funds through lending arrangements may restrict our operations or produce other adverse results, the risk that Sunesis’ development activities for vosaroxin could be otherwise halted or significantly delayed for various reasons, the risk that Sunesis’ clinical studies for vosaroxin may not demonstrate safety or efficacy or lead to regulatory approval, the risk that data to date and trends may not be predictive of future data or results, the risk that Sunesis’ nonclinical studies and clinical studies may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA or other regulatory agencies, risks related to the conduct of Sunesis’ clinical trials, risks related to the manufacturing of vosaroxin and supply of the active pharmaceutical ingredients required for the conduct of the VALOR trial, the risk of third party opposition to granted patents related to vosaroxin, and the risk that Sunesis’ proprietary rights may not adequately protect vosaroxin. These and other risk factors are discussed under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in Sunesis’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, Sunesis’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and Sunesis’ other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sunesis expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the company’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Published January 31, 2012

GALVESTON — Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch have been awarded a $578,000 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to institute a fluorescent imaging research program that detects cancer cells that have been engineered to glow in the dark so they can be precisely pinpointed as they grow and spread throughout the body.

The cells will emit light spontaneously, similar to a firefly, when faced with ultraviolet or near-infrared light. The emitted light will be collected by a highly sensitive camera that can detect and track the cancerous cells for later evaluation and possibly help develop new drugs for cancer treatment.

The grant will enable UTMB researchers to track cancer progression of many types over time in experimental mice whose cancer cells have been made phosphorescent — either through molecular imaging dyes or genetic modifications — when viewed through a new photo-imaging machine.

Grant funds are being used to purchase this new machine — the IVIS Spectrum — that will enable UTMB researchers not only to step up the pace of their cancer research, but vastly decrease the number of experimental animals needed for each research project.

Since the IVIS machine can track cancer progression in live animals instead of post mortem, far fewer animals will be needed for each research project. For a typical six-month project in which 85 experimental animals would normally have been used, now only five animals will be needed.

The machine, which is about the size and weight of an apartment-sized refrigerator, has just arrived on campus. UTMB researchers are lining up to learn how to use it. There are already 13 funded UTMB cancer research projects that will use the IVIS machine to carry out their work.

Optical molecular techniques such as bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging have become essential tools for studying preclinical cancer models, providing unique insights into disease pathogenesis, drug development, and effects of therapy, said Lisa Elferink, director of research for UTMB’s Cancer Center, who spearheaded UTMB’s application for the CPRIT grant funds.

According to the grant’s principal investigator, Massoud Motamedi, director of UTMB’s Center for Biomedical Engineering, the new instrument will also help UTMB recruit new faculty in cancer research and vaccine development for cancer prevention and at the same time to retain its best investigators. These are important considerations as UTMB continues to move forward in its development of a state-of-the-art comprehensive cancer center.

Departments that plan to use the new device in their research include otolaryngology, radiation oncology, surgery, pharmacology, neuroscience and cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology. All of the research projects are looking at different aspects of signaling in cancer and how signaling promotes cancer progress — especially pancreatic, breast, lymph, colon and head and neck cancer.

“This new system significantly expands UTMB’s research imaging resources,” said Motamedi. “With this now in place, UTMB’s already extensive imaging research resources are now truly state-of-the-art, rivaling any such research facility in the world.”

By Jennifer Clampet

The state of Texas has a plan to beat cancer. The University of Texas at El Paso is striving to play a major part in that medical breakthrough.

“All three of us have a novel therapy or drugs in the pipeline,” said Marc B. Cox, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UTEP, speaking on the advancements he and two colleagues have made in developing novel therapies for prostate cancer.

His words of progress came more than six months after receiving an almost $1 million multi-investigator grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) – an institution created by the state to lead the way in groundbreaking cancer research.

On Jan. 27, as Cox officially accepted the grant at a ceremony held at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, he also touched on promising news for the anticipation of commercialization and later job creation stemming from the group’s breakthroughs.

“All three of us have independent projects but are synergized to the same goal,” said Cox, who is working with Jan-Ake Gustafsson, M.D., Ph.D, from the Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling at the University of Houston, and Paul Webb, Ph.D, of Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston.

Each year more than 200,000 men in the United States are diagnosed with prostate cancer and about 30,000 die from the disease. After lung cancer, prostate cancer is the leading cause of death for men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

The estimated cost of all forms of cancer in Texas is $28 billion, according to a 2011 assessment by The Perry Group.

“But more importantly, the cost of cancer is 40,000 Texans a year,” said Bill Gimson, CPRIT executive director.

“We all have family members affected by this disease (cancer),” said State Rep. Marisa Marquez during the Jan. 27 presentation ceremony. “(Finding a cure for cancer) is a priority for our delegation.”

State Rep. Dee Margo and State Sen. Jose Rodriguez also gave stirring remarks in support of the funding for cancer research and prevention.

CPRIT was established through a Texas voter approved constitutional amendment that authorized the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas.

Since 2010, the institution has funded 364 awards for cancer research, commercialization and prevention totaling more than $599 million.

Research conducted under Cox as the principal investigator is geared toward treatment of prostate cancer. Early-stage prostate cancer grows and survives on male hormones called androgens. Current treatments target the availability of the hormones in the body. In recurrent and severe forms of the cancer, prostate tumors may become resistant to therapy, enabling tumors to spread and limiting treatment options.

Since being awarded the grant, Cox also published a paper in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

The report – titled “Targeting the regulation of androgen receptor signaling by the heat shock protein 90 cochaperone FKBP52 in prostate cancer cells” – details how Cox’s promising molecules seem to effectively and efficiently block the stimulation of prostate cancer growth in response to the male hormone testosterone with the possibility of less harmful side effects.

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas approved $26.3 million in grants that will support screening and education programs throughout the state.

At its Jan. 18 quarterly meeting, CPRIT’s 11-member governing board approved awards for 12 institutions or organizations with evidence-based prevention programs and services, including Angelo State University, Centro San Vicente, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Department of State Health Services.

These prevention efforts — including breast screening and tobacco cessation services — will reach more than 1.5 million Texans and result in thousands of Texans being screened for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers. CPRIT doles out awards for prevention, research and commercialization. This meeting’s grant slate focused on prevention grants and two CPRIT scholar grants.

“What’s exciting about these projects is that [three breast cancer programs] are expanding their programs into areas that are not well-covered in the state. They are going into rural counties in North Texas, East Texas and West Texas,” said Rebecca Garcia, CPRIT’s chief prevention officer.

Nevertheless, there has been some concern that parts of the state are either not being adequately covered by CPRIT-funded prevention programs or are not getting their fair share of the grants.

Overall, CPRIT, which is in its third year, has been commended for having a positive impact on the lives of Texans, as well as giving a big boost to the state’s economy. Established by Texas voters in 2007, CPRIT will receive $3 billion in bonds over 10 years to fund cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas.

By Staff

EL PASO – Officials from The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas were in El Paso Friday morning to present the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and UTEP with a total $4.2 million towards continuing cancer research. Other heath care facilities across the state compete for these funds, and officials say the investment in cancer helps the health of El Paso’s economy as well as potential patients.

A portion of the money will be used in a large colorectal cancer awareness and screening plan for El Paso County residents. With the money, over 3 thousand El Paso residents over 50 will qualify for a free screening. By detecting cancerous growths in the colon early through routine screening, the cancer can usually be treated without incident.

Written by Lisa Ruley

The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) recently presented a $4.2 million check to the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine to fund cancer projects in El Paso.

“Competition is fierce for CPRIT funding. Our faculty members have demonstrated their research programs can compete effectively at the state and national level,” said President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D. “We congratulate them on being recognized for their dedication to combating this disease.”

Over the next three years, $2.7 million will fund the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine project Against Colorectal Cancer in our Neighborhoods (ACCION), which will help reduce the burden of colorectal cancer in the El Paso community. Another $1.5 million will help establish a Cancer Clinical Core Facility through the State of the Art Cancer Care at Home project.

Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Founding Dean and Vice President for Health Affairs Jose Manuel de la Rosa, M.D., said the institution is proud to receive this award thanks to two star scientists, Navkiran Shokar, M.D., M.P.H., and Zeina Nahleh, M.D., who have dedicated themselves to cancer research and prevention.

“These projects are so important to providing the most vulnerable members of our society with life-saving treatments and early detection,” de la Rosa said.

Chancellor Kent Hance added, “We are extremely grateful to CPRIT for these grants that will allow our researchers to continue their fight against cancer. To more than double our amount of state cancer research funding in a year is remarkable.”

Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 establishing CPRIT and authorizing the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research, prevention programs and services in Texas.

DALLAS, Jan. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors. The unique test could preclude the need for surgery in patients whose tumors are located in areas of the brain too dangerous to biopsy.

This new magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) technique provides a definitive diagnosis of cancer based on imaging of a protein associated with a mutated gene found in 80 percent of low- and intermediate-grade gliomas. Presence of the mutation also means a better prognosis.

“To our knowledge, this is the only direct metabolic consequence of a genetic mutation in a cancer cell that can be identified through noninvasive imaging,” said Dr. Elizabeth Maher, associate professor of internal medicine and neurology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study, available online in Nature Medicine. “This is a major breakthrough for brain tumor patients.”

UT Southwestern researchers developed the test by modifying the settings of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner to track the protein’s levels. The data acquisition and analysis procedure was developed by study lead author Dr. Changho Choi, associate professor of the Advanced Imaging Research Center (AIRC) and radiology. Previous research linked high levels of this protein to the mutation, and UT Southwestern researchers already had been working on MRS of gliomas to find tumor biomarkers.

“Our next step is to make this testing procedure widely available as part of routine MRIs for brain tumors. It doesn’t require any injections or special equipment,” said Dr. Maher, medical director of UT Southwestern’s neuro-oncology program.

To substantiate the test as a diagnostic tool, biopsy samples from 30 glioma patients enrolled in the UT Southwestern clinical trial were analyzed; half had the mutation and expected high levels of the protein. MRS imaging of these patients had been done before surgery and predicted, with 100 percent accuracy, which patients had the mutation.

For Thomas Smith of Grand Prairie, the test helped determine the best time to begin chemotherapy. When an MRS scan showed a sharp rise in the 25-year-old’s protein levels, this indicated to his health care team that his tumor was moving from dormancy to rapid growth.

“We treated him with chemotherapy and his protein levels came down,” Dr. Maher said.

Before participating in the study, Mr. Smith had tumor removal surgery in 2007. Because part of the tumor could not be safely removed, however, he continued to suffer seizures and had other neurological problems. Since chemotherapy, his symptoms have diminished.

“I did six rounds of chemo, every six weeks,” Mr. Smith said. “My seizures stopped and all my symptoms improved. I am only on anti-seizure medication now.”

Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study included Sandeep Ganji, a doctorate student in radiological sciences; Dr. Ralph DeBerardinis, assistant professor of pediatrics and with the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development; Dr. Kimmo Hatanpaa, associate professor of pathology; Dr. Dinesh Rakheja, assistant professor of pathology; Dr. Zoltan Kovacs, assistant professor in the AIRC; Drs. Xiao-Li Yang and Tomoyuki Mashimo, both senior research scientists in internal medicine; Dr. Jack Raisanen, professor of pathology; Dr. Isaac Marin-Valencia, resident in pediatrics; Dr. Juan Pascual, assistant professor of neurology and neurotherapeutics, pediatrics, and physiology; Dr. Christopher Madden, associate professor of neurological surgery; Dr. Bruce Mickey, professor of neurological surgery and otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, and radiation oncology; Dr. Craig Malloy, professor in the AIRC and of internal medicine and radiology; and Dr.Robert Bachoo, assistant professor in neurology and neurotherapeutics, and internal medicine.

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute ofTexas and financial support from the Annette G. Strauss Center for Neuro-oncology at UT Southwestern.

This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html.

“The grant will provide funding for mammograms and other diagnostic tests aimed at breast cancer detection for uninsured and underinsured women in Public Health Region 9, beginning with the Concho Valley,” Ross said. “We are partnering with San Angelo Community Medical Center and Shannon Health System to provide these services, as well as Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital in Brady and Lillian M. Hudspeth Memorial Hospital in Sonora, who will provide mammograms. In addition, the grant will also pay transportation costs for women to obtain services, and will also fund a public awareness campaign targeting all women throughout the Concho Valley.”

“This grant provides the Laura W. Bush Institute the opportunity to impact the lives of women in the Concho Valley,” she added. “Through our health care partners, we will be able to provide early detection of breast cancer and prevent advanced disease.”

According to CPRIT, the cost of cancer treatment in Texas was $28.1 billion in 2011, an increase of $2.8 billion over 2010, and an overall 28.6 percent increase since CPRIT began calculating cancer costs in 2007.

“This latest report confirms what we all know – that cancer is a costly disease – not only in dollar amounts, but more importantly in lives lost,” said Jimmy Mansour, chairman of the CPRIT Oversight Committee. “We must keep up the fight Texans are waging against cancer.”

For 2012, more than 15,000 cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in Texas, with 374 cases expected in Public Health Region 9, and 72 expected cases in Tom Green County. Of the 14 counties in the Concho Valley, only Tom Green, McCulloch and Sutton counties offer mammography services, and many other West Texas counties lack even access to mobile mammography.

“The burden of breast cancer treatment and mortality,” said Ross, “can be significantly reduced by early detection via screening mammography and by chemoprevention. Many women are not routinely screened for breast cancer and even fewer are offered high-risk counseling and chemoprevention.”

“The best estimate of screening rates in the most urban parts of the Concho Valley is less than 40 percent,” she added. “This initiative will target and serve women, beginning in the Concho Valley, who are largely Hispanic, underserved in terms of access to health care, and in many cases, living in rural areas.”

ASU is one of 11 institutions approved for grants totaling more than $29.2 million at CPRIT’s quarterly board meeting this week in Austin. Others receiving grants include the Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Department of State Health Services, University of Texas Health Science Centers at Houston and San Antonio, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and University Health System in San Antonio.

CPRIT was established through an amendment to the Texas Constitution in 2007 that also authorized the issue of $3 million in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas. Under the guidance of its Oversight Committee, CPRIT awards grants for a wide variety of cancer-related research and the delivery of prevention programs and services by public and private Texas entities. All CPRIT-funded research is conducted in state by Texas-based scientists.

More information on CPRIT is available at www.cprit.state.tx.us/.

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