Progen cancer trial extended
Monday, 08 April, 2002
Tests of an Australian cancer drug intended to block angiogenesis have progressed with the announcement of a third patient commencing treatment under the phase II study.
Progen Industries (ASX: PGL) said today a multiple myeloma patient at Newcastle's Mater Misericordiae Hospital was set to receive the compound, PI-88.
Dr Robert Don, Progen's vice-president of R&D, said the Phase II patients were volunteers who had failed to respond to existing cancer treatments.
"If successful, PI-88 may offer cancer sufferers like these another option for treating their disease," Don said.
He said early-stage data had been "very encouraging".
"We are confident about both the performance of our drug technology and also our strategy to develop it further," Don said.
"Commencing Phase II human trials positions us as one of a privileged group of Australian biotechnology companies with drugs at this advanced stage of development."
About 1000 new cases of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow, are diagnosed among Australians each year.
According to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, the disease is the second most common blood cancer, representing about one per cent of all cancers and two per cent of all cancer deaths.
Progen has reported that in pre-clinical trials, PI-88 was able to retard the growth of blood vessels feeding tumours, a process known as angiogenesis, as well as the spread of tumours.
The company says the compound works by first inhibiting the growth factors the cause angiogenesis, then by stimulating tissue factor pathway inhibitor, which is a known inhibitor of the process.
The drug also inhibits the enzyme heparanasem, which is involved in metastasis. The company said that while the current trial was focused on multiple myeloma, it believed the compound holds potential for the treatment of other forms of cancer.
Trial participants will receive the drug via a subcutaneous injection, with the intention being that patients will ultimately be able to self-administer just as diabetics receive their insulin.
At the time of writing, Progen shares had risen more than 11 per cent on the news to a high of $1.47.
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