Parking ASCO results.
>>WATERTOWN, Mass., and STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- OXiGENE, Inc. (Nasdaq: OXGN; SSE: OXGN) reports encouraging final Phase I data from its UK clinical trial of Combretastatin A4 Prodrug (CA4P) thereby providing the first and to date only clinical assessment in humans of a Vascular Targeting Agent (VTA), as a new anti-cancer modality. The trial of OXiGENE's CA4P, conducted by The Cancer Research Campaign (CRC), a British Charity Organization in London, England, show that CA4P can be given safely at doses that reduce malignant tumor blood flow. The results also indicate blood flow reduction in malignant tumors within the toleration range. In addition, interim U.S. Phase I data presented by Dr. Peter O'Dwyer's group at the University of Pennsylvania demonstrated evidence of a greater than 50% reduction in tumor blood flow in two patients, one of which had ``visible areas of de-vascularization.'' That is, CA4P was able to destroy blood vessels within that tumor. Data from these studies were presented today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists in San Francisco.
CA4P, OXiGENE's anti-tumor VTA, is one of a new class of anti-cancer therapies that act by attacking the blood vessels that support a tumor. Anti-tumor VTA's differ from anti-angiogenesis agents, which inhibit the formation of new blood vessels in a tumor, since VTA's are able to attack the existing vessels that support the primary tumor mass. CA4P is the subject of a research collaboration and licensing agreement executed in December 1999 between OXiGENE and Bristol-Myers Squibb, the world leader in oncology therapy.
The CRC clinical studies, conducted by Dr. Gordon Rustin and Dr. Pat Price, show that CA4P was well tolerated at doses sufficient to reduce tumor blood flow as evidenced by MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). ``This study culminates the first demonstration of an inhibitor that blocks tumor blood flow in human trials,'' said Dr. Gordon Rustin, Director of the Department of Medical Oncology at Mount Vernon Hospital, London, and a co-investigator in the study. ``Although Phase I studies traditionally are intended to confirm safety, these results give us an added bonus by establishing Combretastatin's activity in reducing tumor blood flow.''
Interim data previously reported from the company's third Phase I study, which has been conducted in the U.S. at Case Western Reserve University under Dr. Scot Remick, showed a pathological complete response after CA4P treatment in one patient with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Final results from the Company's two U.S. Phase 1 clinical trials will be presented later in the year.
``We are very encouraged by CA4P's safety profile and tumor blood flow shutdown data as presented by our clinical trial physicians here at ASCO,'' said Bjorn Nordenvall, M.D. Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of OXiGENE. ``We believe the vascular targeting approach will not only have applications in cancer treatment but in the treatment of other diseases. Since aberrant vessel formation is a characteristic of leading causes of blindness such as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, as well as a characteristic of psoriasis, we are exploring CA4P as a treatment for these conditions. In addition, to consolidate our leading position and further our product pipeline in the vascular targeting area, we are continuing our development of the next generation of VTAs.''<<
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Cheers, Tuck |
