Atiprimod, is an orally administered drug with anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic activity. The program originated at GlaxoSmithKline in the late 1990’s. Callisto is now developing the drug as an anti-cancer agent for neuro-endocrine tumors.
Pre-clinical efficacy data with Atiprimod indicates that it has anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic, and cytotoxic activity in multiple human tumor cell lines, including drug-resistant human multiple myeloma cell lines. Atiprimod simultaneously lowers serum IL-6 and VEGF, two growth factors generally recognized to play a major role in the pathophysiology of multiple myeloma in addition to lowering TNF-a and IL-1 levels, two other growth factors associated with the disease. We have patent protection on the current form of Atiprimod until 2016.