Proteasome inhibition: The proteasome is an enzyme complex within the cell responsible for breaking down proteins that have been marked for removal by the attachment of a tag called ubiquitin. The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway plays an essential role in regulating the concentration of specific proteins inside the cell, thereby maintaining 'homeostasis', the natural tendency of the cell to remain stable. Inhibition of the proteasome prevents this targeted proteolysis which can affect multiple signaling cascades within the cell. This disruption of normal homeostatic mechanisms can lead to cell death. Experiments have demonstrated that proteasome inhibition is cytotoxic to a variety of cancer cell types in vitro, and causes a delay in tumor growth in vivo in non-clinical tumor models.

Kinase-mediated signaling: Two of our development candidates are inhibitors of a receptor tyrosine kinase that may play a role in cancer cell proliferation.

Therapeutic antibodies: Our pipeline includes two investigational drugs based on a targeting monoclonal antibody vehicle (T-MAV) specific for a protein found on the surface of prostate cancer cells.

DNA-targeting: We have two drug candidates in development that have a novel DNA-targeting mechanism.

Personalized medicine: We are searching for DNA, RNA and protein markers that will help to establish the different molecular mechanisms that may underlie different patient presentations, and to predict likely responses to drugs.