2007 ASCO Annual Meeting - Clinical Results On Phase IIb-study With AP 12009 In Anaplastic Astrocytoma Selected For Poster Discussion

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 12 May 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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Antisense Pharma, a German biopharmaceutical company specialized in targeted therapies for malignant tumors, today announced, that data from the Phase IIb-study with AP 12009 in high-grade glioma will be presented at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which will be held in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A, from June 1st - 5th.

In the open-label, randomized dose-finding Phase IIb-trial adult patients with recurrent or refractory high-grade glioma were treated either with one of two doses of the TGF-beta2 inhibitor AP 12009 - applied by convection-enhanced delivery - or chemotherapy (temozolomide or PCV) as a control. Survival data in the subgroup of anaplastic astrocytoma patients suggest superiority of AP 12009 over chemotherapeutic treatment. Median overall survival has not yet been reached in both AP 12009 dose groups in contrast to 91 weeks in the chemotherapy treatment group. Overall response rates demonstrate a benefit of AP 12009 over chemotherapy. The duration of long-term tumor responses until now exceeds the active treatment period by far.

"The significance of our clinical research findings is reflected by the fact, that the Scientific Program Committee has chosen the data for poster discussion among many high quality abstracts," says the coordinating investigator of the study, Prof. Ulrich Bogdahn, MD, University of Regensburg, Germany.

Data from the Phase IIb-study on efficacy and safety in anaplastic astrocytoma patients will be discussed by Albert J. Wong, MD on Sunday June 3rd 2007 in the session Central Nervous System Tumors from 11:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in room S100a on Level 1 of McCormick Place South Building. Prof. Bogdahn will be available for further discussion at the poster entitled A Phase IIb actively controlled study with the TGF-beta2 inhibitor AP 12009 for recurrent or refractory anaplastic astrocytoma (Poster Board No. 13, Abstract ID 2025), which will be on display from 08:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Sunday June 3rd 2007 in room (S 102a) on Level 1 of McCormick Place South Building. The potential of AP 12009 as monotherapy in anaplastic astrocytoma patients will be further investigated in an international Phase III clinical trial currently in preparation, which is planned to include study centers in Europe, Asia, and North America.

About Antisense Pharma

Antisense Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company located in Regensburg, Germany. The company focuses on targeted therapies for malignant tumors and is dedicated to discovering and developing drugs based on antisense technology for worldwide commercialization. The agents specifically block the synthesis of key cancer proteins. The lead product - AP 12009 - a Transforming Growth Factor-beta2 inhibitor - is in advanced clinical development for the treatment of high-grade glioma as well as in Phase I/II clinical trial for the treatment of colorectal carcinoma, pancreatic carcinoma, and malignant melanoma. The further product pipeline covers preclinical drug candidates as well as compounds in research and discovery. Antisense Pharma has been honored with the Bavarian Innovation Award and the German Founders Award.

http://www.antisense-pharma.com

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