Proteolix, Inc., a leader in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics that target protein degradation pathways in cancer and autoimmune diseases, would present the data from two ongoing phase II clinical trials of carfilzomib in multiple myeloma at the upcoming 50th annual meeting of the American Society of Haematology (ASH). The ASH conference will be held from December 6 to 9, 2008 at the George Moscone Centre in San Francisco, California.

Carfilzomib is the first in a new class of specific proteasome inhibitors and is currently in multiple clinical trials for haematologic malignancies and solid tumours.

Sundar Jagannath, chief of the multiple myeloma programme, bone marrow and blood stem cell transplantation at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Centre in New York will present initial results from Proteolix's phase II study of carfilzomib for the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.

This ongoing phase II trial is an open-label multi-centre study of single-agent carfilzomib in patients who have previously failed at least two prior treatments, containing bortezomib and either lenalidomide or thalidomide, and are refractory to their last treatment.

Data from a second ongoing phase II clinical trial of single-agent carfilzomib in relapsed multiple myeloma patients (stratified by prior therapy with bortezomib) will be presented by Ravi Vij, associate professor of medicine, division of oncology, section of bone marrow transplantation, Washington University School of Medicine.

In addition to the oral presentations, the company will have several poster presentations highlighting the results of preclinical studies that further characterise the mechanism and safety profile of carfilzomib. Proteolix will also have a poster presentation on the preclinical pharmacology and characterisation of its oral proteasome inhibitor known as PR-047.