AIkido Pharma Announces Publication of Results from Sponsored Research at Wake Forest University

NEW YORK, May 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AIkido Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: AIKI) today announced publication of a paper: The Novel Phospholipid Mimetic KPC34 Is Highly Active Against Acute Myeloid Leukemia with Activated Protein Kinase C by Peter M. Alexander, Gregory L. Kucera, Kristin M. Pladna and Timothy S. Pardee in the July 2020 issue of Translational Oncology. The paper documents the results from the company's sponsored research at Wake Forest University.

The article reviews the approach to treating Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), an aggressive malignancy with poor outcomes. Nucleoside analogs are subject to resistance mechanisms including downregulation of equilibrative nucleoside transporter (ENT1) and deoxycytidine kinase (dCK). KPC34 is a novel phospholipid mimetic that when cleaved by phospholipase C (PLC) liberates gemcitabine monophosphate and a diacylglycerol mimetic that inhibits the classical isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC). KPC34 acts independently of ENT1 and dCK. KPC34 was active against all AML cell lines tested with IC50s in the nanomolar range. Enforced expression of PLC increased response to KPC34 in vivo. In an orthotopic, xenograft model, KPC34 treatment resulted in a significant increase in survival compared to control animals and those treated with high-dose cytarabine. In a PDX model with activated PKC, there was a significant survival benefit with KPC34, and at progression, there was attenuation of PKC activation in the resistant cells. In contrast, KPC34 was ineffective against a syngeneic, orthotopic AML model without activated PKC. However, when cells from that model were forced to express PKC, there were significantly increased sensitivity in vitro and survival benefit in vivo. These data suggest that KPC34 is active against AML and that the presence of activated PKC can be a predictive biomarker.

Anthony Hayes, CEO of AIkido stated, "Wake Forest University is a world-class research facility and an outstanding partner for AIkido. This detailed research report helps to quantify the expected benefits of our novel approach to this aggressive disease with what we hope will be a transformative solution."

The published paper is available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1936523320300279

About AIkido

AIkido was initially formed in 1967 and is a biotechnology company with a diverse portfolio of small-molecule anti-cancer therapeutics.  The Company's platform consists of patented technology from leading universities and researchers and we are currently in the process of developing an innovative therapeutic drug platform through strong partnerships with world renowned educational institutions, including The University of Texas at Austin and Wake Forest University. Our diverse pipeline of therapeutics includes therapies for pancreatic cancer, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In addition, we are constantly seeking to grow our pipeline to treat unmet medical needs in oncology

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SOURCE AIkido Pharma Inc.

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