Nice move today; Up over 30%. Hope it keeps moving.
Here is the reason.
NEW YORK, March 28 (Reuters) - Shares of Aronex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NasdaqNM:ARNX - news) jumped
sharply on Tuesday after the company said it had begun Phase II trials of a drug meant to treat breast cancer patients
whose tumors have developed resistance to other medicines.
Aronex was up 1-5/16, or 42 percent, to 4-13/16 in heavy morning trade on the Nasdaq.
The Woodlands, Texas-based company said its experimental drug, Annamycin, is a member of the anthracycline family of anti-cancer drugs that is
encapsulated in a fatty, or lipid, coating.
It will be used to test safety and efficacy in breast cancer patients whose tumor cells have an unusually large amount of P-glycoprotein (PGP), a protein
believed to render chemotherapy drugs ineffective by pumping them out of tumor cells.
The trial will be funded by the U.S. Dept. of Defense and conducted by researchers at the New York University School of Medicine. It will enroll patients
who have failed prior therapy and express PGP in tumor tissue, a possible indication they have developed resistance to a variety of anti-cancer agents.
In addition, researchers will attempt to learn if Annamycin is less likely than other anthracyclines to cause toxicity in heart tissues, a problem that is
cumulative and currently limits the dose of such medicines that can be given to patients.
``We are encouraged by the favorable safety profile demonstrated in earlier clinical trials (of Annamycin), especially in the area of cardiotoxicity and
mucositis, a painful inflammation of the lining of the mouth,' said Dr. Roman Perez-Soler, a senior researcher at New York University School of Medicine.
The Aronex experimental drug is also undergoing a Phase I/II trial to treat leukemia patients who have failed other treatments or have relapsed following
such treatments. |
