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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Andrew H who wrote (11829)	11/28/1997 2:18:00 AM
From: CYBERKEN	Respond to of 32384

Along the same lines::Check out Sugen's angiogenesis inhibitor SU5416, which entered Phase I within the last 2 months. It has been suggested that angiogenesis inhibitors would potentially be used as part of a multi-pronged attack on cancer tumors, where the inhibitor would "starve" the tumor and other drugs (Targretin?) would eliminate the remaining cells, thus providing for a fast and effective treatment of this terrible group of diseases. Nice to think that our grand kids may someday ask us if we remember what cancer was.

To: Andrew H who wrote (11829)	11/28/1997 2:30:00 AM
From: CYBERKEN	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

Here's the story on the Sugen drug:: SUGEN, Inc. Announces Initiation of Phase I Angiogenesis Inhibitor Study Represents SUGEN's Third Signal Transduction Based Therapeutic To Enter Clinical Trials REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--September 30, 1997--SUGEN, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUGN) today announced that it has initiated the first Phase I clinical trial of its angiogenesis inhibitor, SU5416 for the treatment of solid tumors and tumor metastases. Angiogenesis is the process by which tumors trigger the new blood vessel formation needed for their nourishment, growth and metastasis. The target for this angiogenesis inhibitor is Flk-1/KDR, a molecular driver of blood vessel formation, which has been validated by SUGEN scientists in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute. The Phase I clinical study is being conducted under the guidance of Lee Rosen, MD, Director of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Cancer Therapy Development Program at the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles, California where the first patient went on study yesterday. ''The initiation of this Phase I clinical trial represents the first time a small molecule inhibitor targeting this angiogenic mechanism has been administered in humans, and if this and subsequent studies prove to be successful, SU5416 could become an important treatment for patients with a variety of different cancers,'' stated Dr. Rosen. The objective of this Phase I trial will be to assess the safety and dosage range of SU5416. This study will recruit patients with advanced malignancies who have failed previous drug therapy. Dosing will be administered intravenously on a twice weekly schedule and will continue until unacceptable toxicity or progression of disease is seen. The study is currently expected to recruit approximately thirty patients and to take up to six months to complete. ''This drug candidate is the third and potentially the most significant of SUGEN's discovery programs to enter clinical trials,'' commented Stephen Evans-Freke, Chairman and CEO of SUGEN. In addition to the i.v. formulation used in this Phase I study, SUGEN scientists have now succeeded in developing an oral formulation for SU5416 that has demonstrated bioavailability in animals. This advance appears to have cleared the way to introduce an oral dosage form which is expected to enter into clinical trials in 1998.