Health: Amplia really gives a FAK about cancer as phase 1 trial still on track

Amplia Therapeutics (ASX:ATX) stock is rising today after the biotech said nothing has come up in toxicology studies to stop a phase 1 clinical cancer trial going ahead later this year.

Preliminary final results from the preclinical toxicology animal studies into its focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor, AMP945 found no observable adverse effects.

FAK is a protein that is over-expressed in cancer cells and fibrosis or fibrotic scarring, which is when scar tissue begins to replace normal tissue.

Amplia’s stock rose to a high of 13.5c.

Amplia is developing two FAK inhibitors, AMP945 which it will be putting through the first clinical trial and only blocks the FAK protein, and AMP886 which blocks the FAK protein and other cancer drug targets.

A phase 1 study will be undertaken in the second half of this year in 64 healthy volunteers to study its safety in humans.

It’s expected to take up to nine months, and form the basis for a phase 2 trial in patients with various solid cancers such as pancreatic tumours, and fibrotic diseases such as idiopathic lung fibrosis, in 2021.

Amplia received an FDA Orphan Drug Designation for AMP945 for idiopathic (meaning the cause is unknown) pulmonary fibrosis in May this year.

The company is also looking at wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), which Opthea (ASX:OPT) has had considerable success in clinical trials for a different method of treatment.

In other ASX health news:

Orthocell (ASX:OCC) has finished patient recruitment for a clinical trial comparing its tendon regeneration therapy to corticosteroids. The trial was undertaken in collaboration with DePuy Synthes Products and aims to assess the effectiveness of Ortho-ATI for the treatment of rotator cuff tendinopathy and tear, compared to corticosteroid injections.

Invion (ASX: IVX) says a subsidiary, EpiTech Dermal Science, has signed with Chinese company Guilin Pavay Biotechnology for manufacturing and received its first order. Under the deal, EpiTech will supply Australian-made photoactive ingredients to Pavay Biotech to use in a new range of dermatology products.

ResApp Health (ASX:RAP) and Kenyan company Ilara Health will conduct a three-month evaluation of ResAppDx, ResApp’s smartphone app for acute respiratory disease diagnosis, at five partner medical facility sites in Kenya. The evaluation is expected to start during the third quarter of this calendar year.