Received approval for its IND application from the U.S. FDA to initiate clinical trials of VGX-100.
MELBOURNE, Australia I October 31, 2011 I Circadian Technologies Limited (ASX:CIR.ax – News) announces that its 100% owned subsidiary, Vegenics Pty Ltd, has received approval for its investigational new drug (IND) application from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate clinical trials of VGX-100. The first trial (Phase I) will study VGX-100 in patients with a variety of late stage cancers.
"The FDA’s acceptance of our IND represents an extremely important milestone for Circadian. We are well advanced in finalizing clinical trial sites in the USA and expect clinical trials to commence before the end of 2011 with results becoming available from the study in the second half of 2012," said Robert Klupacs, CEO of Circadian Technologies Limited.
VGX-100 is a human antibody that acts against the human VEGF-C protein. Treatment for cancers, particularly glioblastoma and metastatic colorectal cancers, are the first target indications for VGX-100. Additionally, Circadian is developing VGX-100 for a number of other cancer indications, as well as an agent to treat front-of the-eye diseases.
Studies in animal model studies across a wide range of tumour types have shown that when combined with Avastin® and chemotherapy, VGX-100 can significantly reduce tumour growth and tumour spread as well as significantly improve tumour inhibition, over and above that of Avastin® and/or chemotherapy alone. Recent studies have also implicated VEGF-C as a key mediator of disease progression during Avastin® treatment, implying that combination therapy with VGX-100 and Avastin® could significantly improve treatment outcomes in cancer patients.
Circadian’s wholly owned subsidiary, Vegenics Pty Ltd, owns worldwide rights to an extensive intellectual property portfolio covering the angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis targets VEGF-C, VEGF-D and the receptor protein VEGFR-3. Vegenics has also been granted exclusive worldwide rights to intellectual property filed by Schepens Eye Research Institute, covering the use of anti-lymphangiogenc molecules for the treatment of Dry Eye Disease.
Company enquiries
Robert Klupacs
Managing Director – Circadian
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9826 0399 or
robert.klupacs@circadian.com.au
Media enquiries
Kyahn Williamson
Buchan Consulting
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9866 4722
kwilliamson@bcg.com.au
Media Enquiries – International
Lauren Glaser
The Trout Group LLC
251 Post Street, Suite 412
San Francisco, CA 94108
Tel +1 215 740 8468
lglaser@troutgroup.com
About Circadian Technologies Limited
Circadian (ASX:CIR.ax – News) is a biologics drug developer focusing on cancer and ‘front of the eye’ disease therapies. It controls exclusive worldwide rights to a significant intellectual property portfolio around Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-C and -D. The applications for the VEGF technology, which functions in regulating blood and lymphatic vessel growth, are substantial and broad. Circadian’s internal product development programs are primarily focussed on developing VGX-100 (a human antibody against VEGF-C) as a treatment for solid tumours, in particular glioblastoma and colorectal cancer, as well as for ‘front of the eye’ disease such as corneal neovascularisation and/or dry eye disease applications. Circadian has also licensed rights to some parts of its intellectual property portfolio for the development of other products to ImClone Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, including the antilymphatic antibody-based drug IMC-3C5 targeting VEGFR-3.
About Circadian’s pipeline of treatments for cancer
The clinical and commercial success of Avastin®, an antibody that blocks the activity of VEGF-A, clinically validated anti-angiogenic drugs as an effective means of inhibiting solid tumour growth. By blocking the interaction of VEGF-A with its receptors, primarily VEGFR-2, the multi-billion dollar cancer therapeutic slows tumour growth by inhibiting blood vessel recruitment into the tumour, effectively starving tumours of essential nutrients and oxygen required for growth. However after a short period of time tumors can begin to grow again in the presence of Avastin® . Avastin® is approved by the US FDA in the following indications: metastatic colorectal cancer, non-squamous-cell lung cancer, metastatic breast cancer, glioblastoma, and metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
The angiogenic receptor VEGFR-2 can also be stimulated by VEGF-C and hence an inhibitor such as VGX-100, a key therapeutic in Circadian’s portfolio, can produce greater blockade of this receptor pathway. As such, VGX-100 has the potential to block blood vessel growth in tumours which grow in the presence of Avastin® therapy and hence may completely shut down angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels) mediated by VEGFR-2.
VEGF-C along with the molecule VEGF-D are also the only known proteins to bind and activate VEGFR-3 which drives lymphatic vessel and tumour-associated blood vessel growth. Inhibitors of VEGF-C thus have therapeutic potential to inhibit not only primary tumour growth through their anti-angiogenic activities, but to also inhibit tumour spread or metastasis via the lymphatic vessels – a mechanism of tumour dissemination that is often the deadliest aspect of many tumour types and a mechanism that is not effectively blocked by anti-VEGF-A or anti-VEGFR-2 therapeutics.
SOURCE: Circadian Technologies
Post Views: 32
Received approval for its IND application from the U.S. FDA to initiate clinical trials of VGX-100.
MELBOURNE, Australia I October 31, 2011 I Circadian Technologies Limited (ASX:CIR.ax – News) announces that its 100% owned subsidiary, Vegenics Pty Ltd, has received approval for its investigational new drug (IND) application from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate clinical trials of VGX-100. The first trial (Phase I) will study VGX-100 in patients with a variety of late stage cancers.
"The FDA’s acceptance of our IND represents an extremely important milestone for Circadian. We are well advanced in finalizing clinical trial sites in the USA and expect clinical trials to commence before the end of 2011 with results becoming available from the study in the second half of 2012," said Robert Klupacs, CEO of Circadian Technologies Limited.
VGX-100 is a human antibody that acts against the human VEGF-C protein. Treatment for cancers, particularly glioblastoma and metastatic colorectal cancers, are the first target indications for VGX-100. Additionally, Circadian is developing VGX-100 for a number of other cancer indications, as well as an agent to treat front-of the-eye diseases.
Studies in animal model studies across a wide range of tumour types have shown that when combined with Avastin® and chemotherapy, VGX-100 can significantly reduce tumour growth and tumour spread as well as significantly improve tumour inhibition, over and above that of Avastin® and/or chemotherapy alone. Recent studies have also implicated VEGF-C as a key mediator of disease progression during Avastin® treatment, implying that combination therapy with VGX-100 and Avastin® could significantly improve treatment outcomes in cancer patients.
Circadian’s wholly owned subsidiary, Vegenics Pty Ltd, owns worldwide rights to an extensive intellectual property portfolio covering the angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis targets VEGF-C, VEGF-D and the receptor protein VEGFR-3. Vegenics has also been granted exclusive worldwide rights to intellectual property filed by Schepens Eye Research Institute, covering the use of anti-lymphangiogenc molecules for the treatment of Dry Eye Disease.
Company enquiries
Robert Klupacs
Managing Director – Circadian
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9826 0399 or
robert.klupacs@circadian.com.au
Media enquiries
Kyahn Williamson
Buchan Consulting
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9866 4722
kwilliamson@bcg.com.au
Media Enquiries – International
Lauren Glaser
The Trout Group LLC
251 Post Street, Suite 412
San Francisco, CA 94108
Tel +1 215 740 8468
lglaser@troutgroup.com
About Circadian Technologies Limited
Circadian (ASX:CIR.ax – News) is a biologics drug developer focusing on cancer and ‘front of the eye’ disease therapies. It controls exclusive worldwide rights to a significant intellectual property portfolio around Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-C and -D. The applications for the VEGF technology, which functions in regulating blood and lymphatic vessel growth, are substantial and broad. Circadian’s internal product development programs are primarily focussed on developing VGX-100 (a human antibody against VEGF-C) as a treatment for solid tumours, in particular glioblastoma and colorectal cancer, as well as for ‘front of the eye’ disease such as corneal neovascularisation and/or dry eye disease applications. Circadian has also licensed rights to some parts of its intellectual property portfolio for the development of other products to ImClone Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, including the antilymphatic antibody-based drug IMC-3C5 targeting VEGFR-3.
About Circadian’s pipeline of treatments for cancer
The clinical and commercial success of Avastin®, an antibody that blocks the activity of VEGF-A, clinically validated anti-angiogenic drugs as an effective means of inhibiting solid tumour growth. By blocking the interaction of VEGF-A with its receptors, primarily VEGFR-2, the multi-billion dollar cancer therapeutic slows tumour growth by inhibiting blood vessel recruitment into the tumour, effectively starving tumours of essential nutrients and oxygen required for growth. However after a short period of time tumors can begin to grow again in the presence of Avastin® . Avastin® is approved by the US FDA in the following indications: metastatic colorectal cancer, non-squamous-cell lung cancer, metastatic breast cancer, glioblastoma, and metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
The angiogenic receptor VEGFR-2 can also be stimulated by VEGF-C and hence an inhibitor such as VGX-100, a key therapeutic in Circadian’s portfolio, can produce greater blockade of this receptor pathway. As such, VGX-100 has the potential to block blood vessel growth in tumours which grow in the presence of Avastin® therapy and hence may completely shut down angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels) mediated by VEGFR-2.
VEGF-C along with the molecule VEGF-D are also the only known proteins to bind and activate VEGFR-3 which drives lymphatic vessel and tumour-associated blood vessel growth. Inhibitors of VEGF-C thus have therapeutic potential to inhibit not only primary tumour growth through their anti-angiogenic activities, but to also inhibit tumour spread or metastasis via the lymphatic vessels – a mechanism of tumour dissemination that is often the deadliest aspect of many tumour types and a mechanism that is not effectively blocked by anti-VEGF-A or anti-VEGFR-2 therapeutics.
SOURCE: Circadian Technologies
Post Views: 32
