REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:THLD), today announced that the University of Texas at San Antonio initiated a clinical trial of TH-302 in combination with bevacizumab in patients with recurrent high grade astrocytoma including glioblastoma. Bevacizumab, marketed by Roche under the brand name Avastin®, is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that affects tumor vasculature which among its several approved indications is used to treat glioblastoma in patients whose cancer has progressed after prior treatment. Published studies have shown that treatment with Avastin increases the extent of hypoxia within the tumor. TH-302 is a novel small molecule hypoxia-targeted prodrug that is selectively activated by the low oxygen conditions believed to be induced in tumors by antiangiogenic therapies such as Avastin®. With data from over 500 patients to date, TH-302 is currently being evaluated in a controlled Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, with a planned pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with soft tissue sarcoma expected to commence in the 3rd quarter of this year.
