Bionomics gets approval for ovarian cancer trial

Bionomics (ASX:BNO) has gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a clinical trial of its BNC105 treatment in women with ovarian cancer.

The phase I/II trial of BNC105 in conjunction with existing chemotherapy drugs will take place at centres in Australia and in the US, and is expected to commence next quarter.

South Australia's Bionomics first announced plans for this trial in August last year, and it is so far proceeding on schedule.

Ovarian cancer is the seventh leading cause of cancer-related death among Australian women, with the rate of diagnosed cases in the nation increasing 47% between 1982 and 2006.

BNC105 is a vascular disruption agent (VDA) designed to shut down tumour blood vessels while leaving normal blood vessels untouched.

Preclinical trial data indicates that all solid tumour types, including breast, prostate and lung cancers, are susceptible to BNC105's VDA effects.

For this reason, BNC105 is also currently being evaluated in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Bionomics hopes that the data from the two trials can be used to convince the US FDA to grant fast-track designation to BNC105.

The product also has potential applications in a wider range of solid tumour cancers including breast, prostate, pancreatic, gastric and lung cancers.

At the start of the year, Bionomics revealed it had won a major deal worth up to US$345 million ($331.9 million) to develop its anti-anxiety compound, BNC210, with US-based Ironwood Pharmaceuticals.

Bionomics (ASX:BNO) shares fell 2.17% to close at 45c on Friday.