Artelo Biosciences, Inc. announced the publication of an article, "The emerging role of fatty acid binding protein 7 (FABP7) in cancers," in Drug Discovery Today, a peer-reviewed journal. The article analyzes the results of various studies and presents a comprehensive analysis of FABP7's role in a variety of cancers and its correlation with patient prognosis, as well as its potential utility as a validated target in cancer treatment. The publication reveals that FABP7, an intracellular protein involved in the uptake, transportation, metabolism, and storage of fatty acids, is upregulated in several cancers including breast, brain, and kidney cancers and is generally associated with a poor patient prognosis.

Additionally, the evidence shows that both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of FABP7 led to reduced tumor cell growth, migration, and invasion in multiple studies. Moreover, inhibition of FABP7 improved host survival rates, particularly in brain cancers, indicating its role as a novel target in cancer. Artelo is currently evaluating multiple compounds for their therapeutic potential from the Company's extensive FABP inhibitor library.

The most advanced of these is ART26.12, a novel, potent and selective inhibitor of FABP5. In preclinical studies, ART26.12 demonstrated positive results in cancer, cancer bone pain, and painful neuropathies such as chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Artelo plans to file an investigational new drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during the second quarter of 2024 for the development of ART26.12 in CIPN.

Approximately 40% of cancer patients treated with certain chemotherapy will develop neuropathic pain which often requires dose reduction or cessation of anti-cancer treatment and there is currently no FDA-approved therapy to treat or prevent CIPN.