An anti-cancer drug discovered in Auckland has been shown in clinical trials to significantly improve the survival rate of prostate cancer patients, a London-based drug company announced yesterday.
Antisoma plc announced two-year survival data from its phase II study of ASA404 in hormone-refractory prostate cancer was 33 percent with ASA404 and 23 percent in the control group which did not receive the drug. Previously reported findings from the same trial have shown higher tumour response rates and markedly higher PSA response rates in patients receiving ASA404.
Antisoma's partner, drug multinational Novartis is considering what the next steps should be in terms of using the drug for prostate cancer.
Phase 3 clinical trials of the drug as a treatment for lung cancer are already underway, and plans for development in other types of cancer are being considered.
Glyn Edwards, Antisoma's chief executive, said: "Following the very positive phase 2 data in lung cancer, it does not surprise us to see further evidence of ASA404's activity in prostate cancer. With its unique mode of action as a tumour-vascular disrupting agent, ASA404 has potential against a variety of solid tumours."
AASA404 was originally known a DMXAA when it was discovered by two Auckland University professors, Bruce Baguley and William Denny .
A small-molecule "tumour-vascular disrupting agent (Tumour-VDA) which targets the blood vessels that nourish tumours, it was licensed to Antisoma through Cancer Research Ventures Ltd, an arm of Cancer Research UK, in August 2001. DMXAA stops tumour growth by interrupting this network and killing tumour blood vessels.
Worldwide rights to the drug were licensed to Novartis AG in April 2007.
Auckland University researchers are involved in the phase 3 trials on patients with non-small cell lung cancer in association with the Auckland District Health Board. When tested on humans in Auckland in 2000 DMXAA was found to stop tumour growth by interrupting this network and killing tumour blood vessels .
