On December 4, 2014 Xenetic Biosciences, Inc. (OTCBB:XBIO), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation biologic drugs and novel oncology therapeutics, reported that the mechanism of action of OncoHist in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) will be the subject of a poster presentation at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) 56th ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting & Exposition (Press release, Xenetic Biosciences, DEC 4, 2014, View Source [SID1234537816]). The meeting is being held December 6-9, 2014 in San Francisco and the poster presentation will be from 6:00 p.m. to-8:00 p.m. local time on December 8. The abstract, available here, also will be published in Blood on December 5.

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Researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), one of the world’s leading cancer institutes, will be presenting the abstract, entitled "OncoHist, an rh Histone 1.3 is cytotoxic to acute myeloid leukemia cells and results in altered downstream signaling (Suiyang Liu, Surender Kharbanda and Richard Stone)." The researchers conclude that their findings support the development of OncoHist alone and in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of AML. Richard M. Stone, M.D., will present the poster. He is Director of the Adult Acute Leukemia Program at Dana-Farber, Professor, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and, serves on the Medical Oncology Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and is Chair, Alliance Leukemia Committee. In February 2013, Xenetic Biosciences signed a broad research agreement for OncoHist with Dana-Farber.

"We are very encouraged by the conclusions of the Dana-Farber researchers and are planning a Phase 1 study with OncoHist in conjunction with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ultimately to support a New Drug Application filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration," said M. Scott Maguire, chief executive officer of Xenetic Biosciences. "Dr. Stone and his colleagues have noted in their preclinical research that OncoHist inhibits and induces necrosis of a number of AML cell lines. We believe this research validates the continuation of the Phase 1/2 trial with OncoHist in combination with cytarabine for the treatment of AML in refractory patients, which is underway in Russia by our partner Pharmsynthez. We look forward to filing our Investigational New Drug application with the FDA during the first half of 2015 and to beginning testing OncoHist in the U.S. for the treatment of AML," added Mr. Maguire.

About OncoHist

OncoHist is a novel patent-protected platform technology that utilizes the special properties of human histone H1.3 for the development of a broad range of cancer indications. OncoHist is based on a molecule occurring naturally in the human cell nucleus, and is therefore expected to be less toxic and immunogenic than other oncology therapies. OncoHist has strong anti-proliferative properties in cancer cells of different histological origins, including hematologic malignancies such as leukemias, lymphomas and myelomas. OncoHist also has the potential to be broadly applied across a spectrum of other cancers.

About Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. It provides adult cancer care with Brigham and Women’s Hospital as Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center and it provides pediatric care with Boston Children’s Hospital as Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center. Dana-Farber is the top ranked cancer center in New England, according to U.S. News & World Report, and one of the largest recipients among independent hospitals of National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health grant funding. Follow Dana-Farber on Twitter: @danafarber or Facebook: facebook.com/danafarbercancerinstitute.