mention of NERX
Small biotechs developing novel cancer therapies
(Reuters, Feb 23, 2000 15:05 hrs)
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif., Feb 23 (Reuters) - None are laying claim to a cure for cancer, but several small biotech firms are working on new products, some of which enhance the effects of existing drugs, to slow or eliminate cancerous tumors.
At a growth stock conference held here this week, companies ranging from small to big discussed everything from cutting-edge treatments based on genetics and monoclonal antibodies to older treatments reconceived to boost effectiveness.
"There are 1.2 million cancer cases diagnosed each year and current treatments only cure 5-10 percent of patients, " said Jim Bianco, chief executive officer of Cell Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CTIC), a Seattle, Wash.-based company developing drugs to treat cancer and immune diseases.
Cell Therapeutics expects to file a new drug application at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sometime in the first half of this year for ATO, or arsenic trioxide, for the treatment of leukemia. The drug could then be launched as early as the fourth quarter of 2000, Bianco said.
"Sure it's poison, but all chemotherapy agents are," the CEO said. Trial results that will be used in the FDA filing show that 85 percent of patients treated with ATO responded to the therapy, he added.
Cell Therapeutics is also developing a polymer delivery system for cancer drugs that works on the principle that tumor tissue is more porous than normal tissue. This method traps the drug in the pores of the tumor, where its payload is slowly released, resulting in more effective chemotherapy, the CEO explained.
But early-stage trial results do not mean a drug will make it as a commercial product. Bianco acknowledged that Cell Therapeutics has shelved development work on Llsofylline, a drug intended to reduce the incidence of infection in cancer patients in which the company once had the highest of hopes.
But the possibility of failing has not slowed innovation.
NeoRx Corp. (NASDAQ:NERX), a company with market capitalization of just $120 million, is another Seattle company with hopes for a big breakthrough in cancer treatment.
NeoRx is conducting trials of its skeletal targeted radiation, or STR, in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. STR specifically targets bone with a high-energy radiation treatment.
"It works by making a known cancer treatment safer," a spokesman for the company said.
NeoRx is also considering trials in prostate cancer and breast cancer for its proprietary platform for the delivery of drugs directly to the site of a tumor.
Richmond, Calif.-based Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX) explained it is focusing on the genetics of the disease. "Therapeutic virus technology sets us apart," said Hollings Renton, the company's CEO.
Onyx, in partnership with Warner-Lambert (NYSE:WLA), is conducting final-stage Phase III trials of Onyx 015, a genetically modified virus that has been shown in early studies to replicate inside of tumors and kill cancer-causing genetic mutations.
The virus used to carry the tumor suppressor gene is engineered so that it isn't able to replicate in normal cells, but since tumor cells lack the growth regulator they are destroyed by the virus, Renton explained.
Early stage trials in head and neck cancer patients showed that replication of Onyx 015 helped significantly reduce tumors in patients and was well-tolerated, though some did have flu-like side effects, the CEO said.
Idec Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:IDPH), which has a market capitalization near $6.6 billion, is in partnership with Genentech Inc. (NYSE:DNA), marketing the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma drug Rituxan, the first FDA-approved monoclonal antibody for the treatment of cancer.
Monoclonal antibodies are tailor-made antibodies that bind to specific molecular targets, and they can be attached to radioactive isotopes, for example, to deliver radiation directly to a given tumor.
Idec, based in San Diego, is now developing Zevalin as a complement to Rituxan, which had 1999 sales of $263 million, for use in patients that have become resistant to chemotherapy or to Rituxan alone.
A Phase II trial of Rituxan in combination with standard chemotherapy in people with intermediate and high-grade lymphoma is expected to finish in the second quarter of next year, chairman William Rastetter said.
San Francisco, Calif.-based Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMEX:TTP) said it is conducting human trials of CeaVac, an anti-cancer monoclonal antibody which causes the patient's immune system to attack cancer cells in patients with colorectal cancer.
Copyright 2000, Reuters News Service
Companies or Securities discussed in this article: Symbol Name
NASDAQ:CTIC
NASDAQ:NERX Neorx Corp
AMEX:TTP
NASDAQ:IDPH IDEC Pharmaceuticals
NASDAQ:ONXX Onyx Pharmaceuticals
NYSE:DNA
NYSE:WLA Warner-Lambert
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