MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Cytopia Limited today announced that it is commencing enrolment for its Phase Ib/II study of CYT997, the company's novel vascular-disrupting anticancer agent, in patients with an aggressive form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).
The GBM clinical trial is the first Phase II efficacy study in highly vascular, solid tumor indications for the company and the second in its suite of Phase II studies designed to investigate the anticancer activity of CYT997. Patient recruitment to the study will now commence, following regulatory approval in Australia and the United States.
The clinical study will investigate the activity of CYT997 in combination with two other marketed anticancer agents in approximately 30 patients at a number of clinical centres in Australia and overseas. Dr Jason Lickliter, Director of Oncology at the Frankston Hospital, will be Study Chairman for the program.
GBM is currently treated by surgical resection, and/or radiation and chemotherapy. Despite these treatments, the condition recurs in most patients, leading to a poor prognosis and median survival of less than 12 months. GBM tumors are highly vascular and heavily dependent on their own abnormal blood supply for growth, rendering them potentially susceptible to destruction by an anti-vascular agent such as CYT997.
This trial follows the successful conclusion last year of the company's Phase I safety study for intravenous CYT997, in which a prolonged delay in tumor growth was observed in seven of the study's 31 advanced cancer patients.
Significant perturbations in tumor blood flow were also demonstrated, suggesting that CYT997 potently disrupts tumor blood vessels. Findings from this study were recently presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting which attracts some 30,000 cancer specialists from around the globe.
Cytopia is also investigating the safety and anti-vascular activity of CYT997 when administered by mouth. Preliminary data from the company's Phase I oral study indicates that the compound is well absorbed after administration in capsule form. This key finding differentiates CYT997 from other vascular disrupting agents currently in development which can only be administered intravenously, limiting their clinical utility.
Enrolment into the company's Phase II study of CYT997 in relapsed multiple myeloma, a disorder of the bone marrow, is also ongoing.
About Cytopia
Cytopia Ltd is an Australian biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of new drugs to treat cancer and other diseases. Cytopia conducts its research and drug development through subsidiaries based in Melbourne, Australia and San Francisco, USA and specializes in developing new small molecule compounds with an improved therapeutic profile for the treatment of cancer.
The company's lead drug candidate is CYT997, a vascular disrupting agent (VDA) for the treatment of various cancers, which is currently being trialed in Phase I and Phase II clinical studies. Cytopia is continuing to build on its range of JAK inhibitors and kinase expertise, with CYT387, a novel oral JAK2 inhibitor focused on the treatment of myeloproliferative disorders, expected to enter Phase I clinical studies in early 2009.
Website: www.cytopia.com.au
CONTACT: Mr Andrew Macdonald, Chief Executive Officer, +61 3 9208 4232,
andrew.macdonald@cytopia.com.au, or Dr Gregg Smith, Director, Drug
Development & Operations, +61 3 9208 4234, gregg.smith@cytopia.com.au
Web site: http://www.cytopia.com.au//
