Celator Pharmaceuticals

Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc., with locations in Ewing, N.J., and Vancouver, B.C., is an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company that is transforming the science of combination therapy, and developing products to improve patient outcomes in cancer. Celator's proprietary technology platform, CombiPlex, enables the rational design and rapid evaluation of optimized combinations of anti-cancer drugs, incorporating traditional chemotherapies as well as molecularly targeted agents to deliver enhanced anti-cancer activity. CombiPlex addresses several fundamental shortcomings of conventional combination regimens, as well as the challenges inherent in combination drug development, by identifying the most effective synergistic molar ratio of the drugs being combined in vitro, and fixing this ratio in a nano-scale drug delivery complex to maintain the optimized combination after administration and ensuring exposure of this ratio to the tumor. Celator's lead product is VYXEOS (also known as CPX-351), a nano-scale liposomal formulation of cytarabine:daunorubicin that has completed a Phase 3 trial for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. Celator has also conducted clinical development on CPX-1, a nano-scale liposomal formulation of irinotecan:floxuridine studied in colorectal cancer; and have a preclinical stage product candidate, CPX-8, a hydrophobic docetaxel prodrug nanoparticle formulation. More recently, the company has advanced its CombiPlex platform and broadened its application to include molecularly targeted therapies.