Prescient Therapeutics bone marrow cancer trial progresses

Melbourne biotech company Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) says a clinical trial evaluating its PTX-200 drug candidate to treat bone marrow is progressing to a higher dose.

Three of the 15 treated patients suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) achieved a complete response, meaning their cancer appeared to be completely eradicated, Prescient announced in November 2019.

After a review of safety data from the previous cohort, the Phase 1b study has now progressed from 35mg/m^2 to 45mg/m^2, Prescient said.

“AML remains a very difficult disease to treat, especially in the relapsed and refractory setting, with patients often too sick to endure vigorous treatment,” Prescient said.

“It is therefore pleasing to see the completion of this cohort without dose-limiting toxicities, suggesting that AML patients are able to better tolerate the combination of PTX-200 and cytarabine under the modified protocol.

“This has allowed us to explore this higher dose of 45 mg/m^2 of PTX-200, which we hope will build upon the encouraging responses previously observed in this study.”

About 158,000 patients globally suffer from AML, a bone marrow cancer that prevents the formation of normal blood cells.

The cancer progresses quickly and has poor survival rates, making the complete responses seen earlier all the more encouraging.

The study is being led by world-renowned leukemia expert Professor Jeffrey Lancet at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida. Associate Professor Tara Lin at the University of Kansas Medical Center is also participating in the study.

This article was developed in collaboration with Prescient Therapeutics, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.