Oxford and Newcastle, UK, 21 May 2015 – e-Therapeutics plc (AIM: ETX) announces today that the first patient has been enrolled into its phase 1b programme for its cancer drug, ETS2101. The first patient received the initial dose on 19 May and will be included in the cohort investigating the safety, tolerability and anti-tumour activity of ETS2101 in patients with newly-diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in combination with standard of care, sorafenib.
As part of this programme of work, in addition to newly-diagnosed HCC, e-Therapeutics will be investigating ETS2101 in combination with the standard of care for patients with newly-diagnosed pancreatic cancer (gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel), and as a monotherapy in patients with primary HCC or pancreatic cancer who have relapsed or refractory disease.
Steve Self, Development director of e-Therapeutics said:
“This marks an important milestone for ETS2101 as its development programme begins to explore aspects of this agent’s activity in specific cancer indications, alongside further aspects of dosing and safety. This study is directed towards further clinical development of the compound and will inform our understanding of the drug in this therapeutic area.”
ETS2101 was discovered in the context of cancer by e-Therapeutics through the molecule’s high impact in networks mediating programmed cell death in cancer cells. In the laboratory, it showed potent killing of all cancer cell-types tested. To date, it has been evaluated in three Phase I trials, which showed: evidence indicative of the halting of tumour progression; tumour regression according to RECIST criteria in one case; concentrations of the drug in circulating plasma more than ten times that required to kill cancer cells in vitro; and the potential viability of an oral dose form.
The Phase Ib trial commencing now is designed to explore the safety, dosing and activity of ETS2101 both in monotherapy and in combination with standard of care treatment in HCC and pancreatic cancer.
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About e-Therapeutics plc
e-Therapeutics is an AIM-quoted drug discovery and development company with a proprietary platform in network pharmacology, an innovative new approach to drug discovery based on advances in network science and chemical biology. The Company’s discovery and development activity is currently focused in cancer and disorders of the nervous system.
e-Therapeutics is based at sites in Oxford and Newcastle, UK. For more information about the Company, please visit www.etherapeutics.co.uk.
Issued for and on behalf of e-Therapeutics by Instinctif Partners.
For more information please contact:
e-Therapeutics plc
Malcolm Young, CEO / Steve Medlicott, Finance Director
Tel: +44 (0)1993 883 125
www.etherapeutics.co.uk
N+1 Singer
Aubrey Powell / Jen Boorer
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7496 3000
www.n1singer.com
Instinctif Partners
Melanie Toyne Sewell / Jayne Crook
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7457 2020
Email: e-therapeutics@instinctif.com
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