Melbourne, Australia; 26 September, 2011: Patrys Limited (ASX: PAB; “the Company”), today announced that its lead anti-cancer antibody PAT-SM6 has shown significant activity in preclinical studies of multiple myeloma.
Multiple myeloma is a type of bone marrow cancer arising from plasma cells, and new therapies are desperately needed to treat patients who become resistant to established chemotherapeutics.
The work was performed by Dr Leo Rasche and his associates at the Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Würzburg, as part of an ongoing collaboration with Patrys.
Dr Marie Roskrow, Patrys’ CEO said: “This preclinical work is exciting for Patrys because it expands the potential indications for our lead product PAT-SM6, which is already in a clinical trial here in Australia. This data is strong enough for us to consider looking at an additional trial in treatment-resistant multiple myeloma.”
“A trial in patients with this disease is attractive from a development perspective as it is possible to determine very quickly whether the product is working by assessing routine blood counts and bone marrow samples. There is also a substantial population of patients with resistant multiple myeloma, so offering a novel treatment is a significant opportunity for this group to participate in a trial. We will definitely be looking at the possibility of a clinical study based on this proof of concept preclinical work.”
This additional indication adds to a recent expansion of positive in vivo preclinical cancer models for PAT-SM6 which covers a wide range of solid tumours.
PAT-SM6 is a natural human antibody that has shown promise as a potential treatment for multiple types of cancer. It is the first reported clinical product to target an important protein on the surface of cancer cells called GRP78 that plays a number of key roles in cancer cell survival, growth and metastasis.
