Acceptance of Eflornithine (DFMO) Abstract for Oral Presentation at Digestive Disease Week

MINNEAPOLIS, April 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Panbela Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: PBLA), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing disruptive therapeutics for the treatment of patients with cancer today announced that an abstract for eflornithine, an inhibitor of polyamine synthesis, has been accepted for an oral presentation at the Digestive Disease Week (DDW) conference, which will be held May 18-21, 2024. The work reflects the Company’s on-going collaboration with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Oral Presentation

Title:  Evaluation of the Safety and Efficacy of Eflornithine (Difluoromethylornithine, DFMO) in Patients with Gastric Premalignant Conditions in the High Incidence Areas of Latin America

• Session Type: Research Forum  
  Session Title: Chemoprevention for GI Cancers: Drugs and/or Bugs
  Session Date and Time:  May 21, 2024 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM EDT (UTC –4) 
  

• Additional meeting information can be found on the DDW website: https://eppro02.ativ.me/src/EventPilot/php/express/web/planner.php?id= ...
  
  
• The abstract will also be available on the Company's website at https://panbela.com/events-presentations/ once the information has been released by DDW.
  
  

About Panbela’s Pipeline
The pipeline consists of assets currently in clinical trials with an initial focus on familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), first-line metastatic pancreatic cancer, neoadjuvant pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer prevention and ovarian cancer. The combined development programs have a steady cadence of anticipated catalysts with programs ranging from pre-clinical to registration studies.

Ivospemin (SBP-101)
Ivospemin is a proprietary polyamine analogue designed to induce polyamine metabolic inhibition (PMI) by exploiting an observed high affinity of the compound for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and other tumors. It has shown signals of tumor growth inhibition in clinical studies of metastatic pancreatic cancer patients, demonstrating a median overall survival (OS) of 14.6 months and an objective response rate (ORR) of 48%, both exceeding what is typical for the standard of care of gemcitabine + nab-paclitaxel suggesting potential complementary activity with the existing FDA-approved standard chemotherapy regimen. In data evaluated from clinical studies to date, ivospemin has not shown exacerbation of bone marrow suppression and peripheral neuropathy, which can be chemotherapy-related adverse events. Serious visual adverse events have been evaluated and patients with a history of retinopathy or at risk of retinal detachment will be excluded from future SBP-101 studies. The safety data and PMI profile observed in the previous Panbela-sponsored clinical trials provide support for continued evaluation of ivospemin in the ASPIRE trial.