Clinical stage oncology company Prescient Therapeutics (ASX: PTX), formerly known as Virax Holdings, has boosted its intellectual property with the grant of two US patents covering its PTX-200 treatment for cancer.
Two Phase 1b/2 trials of PTX-200 are currently underway in the US in patients with breast and ovarian cancers.
According to the company, the first patent covers its method for treating patients with tumours that over-express AKT kinase, a key molecule in the oncogenic AKT signalling pathway.
Its second covers a proprietary method for identifying and treating a cancer patient with enhanced sensitivity to PTX-200 through a direct measurement of AKT levels in the patient’s tumour.
The company says this patent further strengthens its focus on “personalised medicine”, whereby patients are selected based on their tumour blueprint and treated with a specific drug that targets such a blueprint, increasing the likelihood that a patient will respond to the drug.
PTX-200 is a small molecule that works by blocking the AKT pathway and inhibiting tumour growth.
High AKT expression is associated with a poor prognosis, resistance to chemotherapy and shortened survival times in a range of cancers.