Benzinga | Dec 20, 2021 07:38AM EST

Aptose Biosciences Announces Its Decision To Discontinue Further Clinical Development Of APTO-253

Aptose Biosciences Inc. ("Aptose") (NASDAQ:APTO, TSX:APS) today announced its decision to discontinue further clinical development of APTO-253. The decision follows prioritization of the company's other more advanced pipeline candidates, as well as an internal review of the product profile and performance to date of APTO-253, including a clinical hold placed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

"We plan to enter the new year 2022 focused exclusively on the swift development of our kinome inhibitors HM43239 and luxeptinib, both of which recently have demonstrated encouraging clinical activity in challenging hematologic malignancies," said William G. Rice, Ph.D., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "APTO-253 remains an interesting product that has demonstrated MYC repression, which creates optionality across the wider oncology spectrum. Moving forward, we plan to explore available strategic alternatives for this compound."