COX-ing cancer into submission

Euclises Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing two COX-2 inhibitor programs, one via a prodrug approach and one using deuteration, which are designed to minimize the gastrointestinal side effects that curtailed development of first-generation inhibitors for cancer. The company is initially targeting refractory cancers, including those where patients have failed drugs that target the VEGF-dependent angiogenesis pathway.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) controls production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a factor that is involved in angiogenesis through a pathway independent of VEGF, along with apoptosis, inflammation and immune suppression...