SynDevRx, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company leading the development of treatments for obesity-accelerated cancers, today announced a research collaboration with Maine Medical Center Research Institute’s Michaela Reagan, PhD. The collaboration will study the role of MetAP2 in obesity-accelerated growth and metastatic potential of multiple myeloma – a form of cancer that develops in bone marrow.

Obesity and systemic metabolic dysfunction are known to make many solid tumors more aggressive, but the connection goes beyond that: multiple myeloma (MM) and several other cancers are also accelerated by systemic issues brought on by obesity, pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. MetAP2 inhibitors, such as SDX-7320, have been shown to improve systemic metabolic hormone dysregulation and they demonstrate anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic properties. It’s this combination of attributes that targets the link between obesity and cancer which may prove well-suited to treat MM in combination with standard-of-care therapies.