Kazia completes recruitment of phase 1 Cantrixil trial

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Australian oncology-focused biotechnology company Kazia Therapeutics (ASX:KZA) says it has completed recruitment of patients into Part B of its phase 1 clinical study of Cantrixil in ovarian cancer.

According to CEO Dr James Garner, “Part B of the Cantrixil study has recruited well and we are now following patients through to completion of their treatment. We are grateful for the excellent efforts of the participating clinicians, and of the study team.

"The first part of the study has shown some very promising signals, and the data from Part B will significantly enhance our understanding of the drug. We will be presenting data at the ESMO conference at the end of September, and this will be valuable opportunity to move forward our partnering discussions for Cantrixil.”

The company said Part A of the study collected data from an initial 14 patients who received escalating doses of Cantrixil to determine safety and tolerability. A maximum tolerated dose of 5 mg/kg was achieved, and this data was reported at the American Association of Cancer Research conference on 1 April 2019.

The data showed that, of nine patients evaluable for efficacy, five (56 per cent) achieved a best-observed response of stable disease after two cycles of Cantrixil monotherapy. One of these five patients subsequently achieved a partial response when Cantrixil was administered with chemotherapy. 

The patients enrolled in part B will receive Cantrixil at a dose of 5 mg/kg. It is designed to seek preliminary signals of potential efficacy for the drug with initial data expected in the fourth quarter of calendar 2019, with final completion of the study in 2020.

Approximately 240,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year worldwide and it is the eighth most common cause of cancer death in women. Conventional treatment typically includes surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. However, the five-year survival rate remains low, at approximately 45 per cent, reflecting the fact that the disease is often advanced at the time of diagnosis.