Prescient appoints new CMO, presents preclinical data

Clinical stage oncology company Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) has announced the appointment of Dr Terrence Chew as its chief medical officer, as well as new data from a preclinical trial of its novel compound PTX-100 in multiple myeloma.

An experienced pharmaceutical executive and haematologist/oncologist, Dr Chew will oversee clinical development and regulatory strategy for Prescient’s two novel oncology candidates now in mid-stage clinical trials at leading US cancer centres. His appointment is effective immediately.

Dr Chew has over 20 years’ experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, having providing expert advice on clinical trials, drug development and regulatory processes to numerous biotechnology companies. He has also seen the approval of five New Drug Applications with the US FDA.

Prescient Managing Director Dr Rob Crombie said Dr Chew’s appointment will prove invaluable as the company strives to exploit the full potential of its oncology candidates. He stated, “Dr Chew’s experience will be critical to advance novel drug candidate PTX-200 through Phase 1b/2 trials in two lead cancer indications - breast and ovarian - with a third trial of the drug in leukaemia to begin in coming months.”

Dr Crombie added that Prescient plans to commence trials in multiple myeloma and breast cancer for its second candidate, PTX-100, later in the year. This follows the release of data from a preclinical trial of PTX-100 at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting last week.

Scientists from the Moffitt Cancer Center examined the effect of PTX-100, a GGT-1 inhibitor that targets one of the RAS signalling pathways, in a mouse model highly relevant to multiple myeloma. They found the compound significantly decreased the percentage of multiple myeloma tumours within the bone, offered a substantial improvement on mouse median survival times and sensitised multiple myeloma cells, which could potentially help to overcome problems of drug resistance to standard chemotherapies.

Dr Crombie said the results support “the design and rationale of the company’s upcoming clinical trials of PTX-100 in multiple myeloma patients who have developed resistance to bortezomib”, referring to the current treatment for relapsed patients. The company additionally plans to file an Investigational New Drug application for PTX-100 with the FDA.

Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) shares were trading unchanged at $0.082 as of around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.