NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rasna Therapeutics, Inc., a development stage biotechnology company focused on the development of cancer drugs, today announced the successful completion of its merger with the Active With Me, Inc. (OTC:ATVM). The combined company intends to change its name to Rasna Therapeutics, Inc. and will trade on the OTC Markets under the symbol “ATVM.” The Company intends to submit an application to change its trading symbol.
“Becoming a public company is a key element of our growth strategy, and the completion of this reverse merger is a significant accomplishment for Rasna Therapeutics,” said James Tripp, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Rasna, “We believe that this breakthrough program may have significant benefits across all forms of leukemia. Our NPM1 program targets the sub-set of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with the NPM1 mutation and may also benefit the general AML population. We are aiming to have a lead candidate identified by 2017.”
Rasna Therapeutics is engaged in modulating the molecular targets LSD1 and NPM1, which are implicated in the disease progression of leukemia and lymphoma. Rasna was formed in 2013 by biotechnology entrepreneur Gabriele Cerrone, together with distinguished scientists, Dr. Roberto Pellicciari, a medicinal chemist and the scientific founder of Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ICPT), and Dr. Brunangelo Falini, a physician and hematologist.
Rasna’s scientific team is comprised of world-renowned experts in blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. Dr. Riccardo Dalla-Favera is a board member of Rasna and the director of the Institute for Cancer Genetics at Columbia University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Falini is the Director of the Hematology Institute at the University of Perugia, Italy and Dr. Pier Giuseppe Pelicci, a collaborator with Rasna, is the Chairman of the Department of Experimental Oncology at the European Institute of Oncology.
About Rasna Therapeutics, Inc.
Rasna Therapeutics, Inc. is a development stage biotechnology company focused primarily on the development of drug candidates for leukemia and lymphoma. Abnormal epigenetic modification is recognized to play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), leading to silencing of genes involved in tumor suppression and cellular reproduction. Rasna’s focus on inhibition of lysine specific demethylase-1 (LSD1), an enzyme involved in epigenetic control, represents a promising and novel approach towards AML. Rasna has developed novel irreversible and reversible LSD1 regulators that have shown appropriate effects on the LSD1 gene in-vitro and in IND-enabling pre-clinical studies.
Rasna Therapeutics Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements in the press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Rasna Therapeutics’ business and Rasna Therapeutics undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.