IRIC - Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer

Published on December 20, 2023

Guy Sauvageau, as director of the IRIC Molecular Genetics of Stem Cells Research Unit, and Anne Marinier, as CEO of the biotechnology company RejuvenRx, obtain $6M over 3 years from Genome Canada for the project “Development of a Novel Cyclin K Degrader of High-risk AML Patients and Associated Genomic Features”. The funding is provided as part of Genome Canada’s Genomics Applications Partnership Program, which aims to foster partnerships between industry, public users, and academic research.

A project with strong social and economic potential for Canada

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is diagnosed in thousands of people across the country each year. With a five-year overall survival rate of around 30% and frequent relapses, the prognosis of the disease remains very poor to this day.

“There is an urgent need for accurate biomarkers to help identify optimal treatments for individuals and development of novel effective therapeutics for high-risk patients and those who cannot receive standard treatments,” emphasizes Guy Sauvageau, who is also a hematologist and who has been working with his colleagues Josée Hébert and Anne Marinier on this problem for several years already.

The project will study Cyclin K, a protein that promotes cell proliferation, as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of AML. The research team observed that the UM511 molecule, developed at IRIC and owned by the University of Montreal, causes the degradation of Cyclin K. The team will chemically optimize this new compound and develop a biomarker based on chemo-genomics. Assays will then be carried out with these new tools to test the synergy of the UM511 compound with existing AML drugs.

The Sauvageau laboratory will collaborate with RejuvenRx, which works on cancer therapeutics, to advance UM511 through clinical trials and, eventually, launch it on the market.

“If the results are positive, the drug will lead to the creation of dozens of high-quality jobs, the generation of Canadian intellectual property, and, most importantly, significantly improved therapeutic outcomes and survival rates for certain AML patients,” mentions Anne Marinier.

IRIC congratulates the entire team for obtaining this grant!