PHILADELPHIA and CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 2005--ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARIA) today announced interim results of an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial of its novel mTOR inhibitor, AP23573, administered as a single agent, in patients with advanced bone and soft-tissue sarcomas. Twenty-seven percent (27%) of 188 evaluable patients treated with AP23573 had sustained tumor regression and/or disease stabilization. In addition, the six-month progression-free survival (PFS) rate in AP23573-treated patients in the first stage of the trial was 22%, which compares favorably to historical data on soft-tissue sarcoma patients treated with inactive chemotherapies for whom the six-month PFS was estimated to be only 8% (van Glabbeke et al, 2002). Almost all patients in the current trial had failed alternative anti-cancer treatments and had progressive disease upon entering the trial.
"These results provide compelling evidence of the potential clinical utility of AP23573 in patients with advanced sarcomas - a cancer with limited treatment options available. AP23573 was chosen by the AACR-NCI-EORTC (ANE) to be highlighted as one of the exciting new drugs in development in its news briefing this morning and as an oral proffered paper in the scientific program tomorrow afternoon," said Harvey J. Berger, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD.
"In clinical trials to date, AP23573 treatment has produced a high level of durable disease stabilization and symptomatic improvement in patients with advanced sarcomas," said Sant P. Chawla, M.D., one of the lead investigators in the AP23573 Sarcoma Study Group, who presented top-line findings from the study at the ANE press briefing this morning. "As we continue to study AP23573 in sarcomas, I am excited about the potential AP23573 may offer in the fight against this devastating cancer."
