Blaze Bioscience Inc. Announces Open Enrollment For Phase 1 Clinical Trial Of Tumor Paint BLZ-100 In Children With Brain Cancer

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blaze Bioscience, the Tumor Paint Company^®, a biotechnology company focused on guided cancer therapy, today announced open enrollment for the first clinical study of Tumor Paint BLZ-100 in children with brain cancer. The study, entitled “A Phase 1 dose-escalation and expansion study of BLZ-100 in pediatric subjects with primary central nervous system tumors,” will be conducted at Seattle Children’s Hospital under the direction of principal investigator Dr. Sarah Leary.

“A Phase 1 dose-escalation and expansion study of BLZ-100 in pediatric subjects with primary central nervous system tumors”

The Phase 1 trial, which is operating under the company’s open Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will enroll up to twenty-seven (27) patients, from infants through young adults under age 30 who have been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and will evaluate the safety and imaging characteristics of BLZ-100.

“We are very excited to advance the development of Tumor Paint BLZ-100 into pediatric brain cancer—a serious and rare disease that represents the most common solid tumor type within the pediatric population,” said Senior Vice President of Development, Dennis Miller, Ph.D. “Initiation of this study is an important milestone for the Tumor Paint platform.”

“Since the beginning, the Blaze team has been inspired by the needs of children with brain cancer and their families. Tumor Paint technology was envisioned and invented by our co-founder, Dr. Jim Olson, who was driven by the needs of his pediatric brain cancer patients at Seattle Children’s. A pediatric brain cancer study has always been a goal of ours and to have it conducted at Seattle Children’s is deeply gratifying,” said Heather Franklin, co-founder, CEO, and Executive Chair of Blaze Bioscience. “We would also like to thank Gateway for Cancer Research for making this trial possible by providing a grant to Seattle Children’s.”

About BLZ-100

BLZ-100 is the first product candidate from Blaze’s Tumor Paint platform and consists of an Optide (optimized peptide), which binds and internalizes into cancer cells, and a fluorescent dye, which emits light in the near-infrared range. Tumor Paint products are designed to provide real-time, high-resolution intraoperative visualization of cancer cells, enabling more precise, complete resection of cancer throughout surgery. Preclinical utility of Tumor Paint technology has been demonstrated in a wide range of cancer types, including brain, lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal. BLZ-100 is currently in multiple Phase 1 proof-of-concept clinical studies to evaluate the safety and imaging characteristics of BLZ-100 in solid tumor cancers.

About Blaze Bioscience

Blaze Bioscience, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on guided cancer therapy. Blaze was founded in 2010 by Dr. Jim Olson, a pediatric neuro-oncologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Heather Franklin, a member of the executive management team at ZymoGenetics. Blaze is working to develop Tumor Paint products and Optide-based guided cancer therapeutics. Surgery is first-line therapy for most solid tumor cancers and Tumor Paint products intend to improve cancer surgery by providing real-time, high-resolution visualization of cancer cells throughout surgery. The ability to see cancer cells in real time and high resolution throughout surgery should enable better detection and more complete and precise surgical removal of cancer—while sparing surrounding normal tissue. In addition to the Tumor Paint platform, Blaze is collaborating with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to discover and develop guided cancer therapeutics as part of the Optides platform. This program extends the expertise gained in developing the Tumor Paint platform to optimized knottin peptide conjugates for therapeutic and imaging applications. For additional information, please visit www.blazebioscience.com.