BioCentury
ARTICLE | Emerging Company Profile

Can-Fite: Muscling up on A3

November 22, 2004 8:00 AM UTC

Building on the observation that tumors rarely spread to muscle tissue, Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. is developing small molecule adenosine receptor modulators that are active against cancer and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The company's most advanced compound, CF101, is a specific adenosine A3 receptor agonist in an ongoing Phase IIa trial for RA.

"Our founding scientist and chief scientific officer, Pnina Fishman, followed up on clinical observations that tumors rarely metastasize to muscles - despite muscle being 51% of our lean body mass," said CEO Ashleigh Palmer. While working at the Rabin Institute at Tel Aviv University, "she found that muscles produce small molecules with anti-cancer activity. She identified them as adenosine-like molecules that target very specifically the adenosine A3 receptor."...