HOUSTON, TX, USA I November 14, 2013 I DNAtrix Inc., a biotech company focusing on the development of oncolytic viruses for cancer, announced today that the first patient was treated with the company’s lead product, DNX-2401, a replication competent adenovirus, in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) in a Phase I study for patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

In collaboration with Sonia Tejada, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator and neurosurgeon at the Clinica Universidad de Navarra in Pamploma, Spain, DNAtrix has treated the first patient in a clinical study entitled: “Virus DNX-2401 and Temozolomide in Recurrent Glioblastoma (D24GBM)” (NCT01956734). “Physicians and patients have been frustrated for many years due to a lack of effective treatment options for glioblastoma. I believe advanced therapies such as oncolytic viruses from DNAtrix will offer a promising solution to these patients with huge unmet medical needs,” said Dr. Tejada.

“We are excited to be working with Dr. Tejada and her multidisciplinary team of clinical experts,” said Dr. Frank Tufaro, a leader in the field of oncolytic virus therapy and chief executive officer of DNAtrix. “The combination of DNX-2401 and TMZ in preclinical experiments showed a strong synergistic effect. Based upon these promising early results, we believe that the combination has significant potential to be highly effective in patients with glioblastoma.”

In an earlier Phase I dose-escalating monotherapy study conducted with DNX-2401 in the US for patients with recurrent malignant glioma, efficacy results have been extremely promising, with evidence of total tumor destruction and long survival in several patients.

About Glioblastoma and DNX-2401

Glioblastoma is a devastating primary brain tumor resistant to conventional therapies and the second most common cause of death from intracranial disease. The lack of effective therapy for brain tumors has led to intense investigations of novel therapeutic approaches that use vectors and recombinant viruses. Oncolytic virus therapy is based on the concept of using live viruses to selectively infect and replicate in cancer cells, with minimal destruction of normal tissue. DNX-2401, a conditionally replication-competent adenovirus, is being developed for the treatment of several cancer indications including patients with recurrent glioblastoma, and is the most potent and effective oncolytic virus delivered to human brain tumors to date.

About DNAtrix, Inc.

DNAtrix is a company developing modified oncolytic viruses for the treatment of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Since viruses are already efficient at killing cells, scientists have harnessed this ability by modifying a common cold virus so that it targets and selectively kills cancer cells. DNAtrix is a privately held company with offices located in Houston, Texas and San Diego, California. For more information, please visit the company website at  http://www.dnatrix.com.

SOURCE: DNAtrix