Starpharma (ASX: SPL) announced that treatment with its novel antibody-targeted DEP conjugate resulted in complete tumour regression and 100 per cent survival in an ovarian cancer model.
Starpharma’s antibody-targeted DEP conjugate (using Herceptin as the targeting group) significantly outperformed both Roche’s Kadcyla (T-DM1), a Herceptin antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), and the monoclonal antibody Herceptin (Trastuzumab) itself in the pre-clinical ovarian cancer model.
According to the company, the targeted DEP treated group showed vastly improved anti-cancer effectiveness and survival compared to both Kadcyla and Herceptin.
The targeted DEP treated group exhibited complete regression after treatment which has been maintained for the duration of the experiment (60 days, experiment ongoing). In contrast, in the Kadcyla group, only tumour stasis was observed during treatment with a maximum inhibition of 32 per cent at day 12, however soon after completion of dosing tumour regrowth occurred.
Survival statistics for the targeted DEP conjugate were also impressive with 100 per cent of the targeted DEP treated group surviving at 60 days (study still ongoing), whereas by day 50, none of the Kadcyla treated group were alive.
The company recently announced a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca that it said could deliver it over half a billion dollars.
The agreement covers the development and commercialisation by AstraZeneca of compounds directed at a defined family of targets using Starpharma’s DEP drug delivery technology.
