Tanja[a]
Curr Opin Investig Drugs 2001 Sep;2(9):1309-13
hIL-13-PE38QQR. NeoPharm.
Barth S.
Fraunhofer IUCT/RWTH Aachen, Worringer Weg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany. barth@molbiotech.rwth-aachen.de
NeoPharm, under license from the NIH and the FDA, is developing a chimeric human IL-13 fused in frame to a genetically engineered truncated Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE38QQR) molecule, for its potential as an antitumor agent [266296], [281418], [290480]. NeoPharm filed an IND in 1999 for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and glioma [319690], [325001]; an additional IND was filed in March 2000 for the treatment of glioblastoma. In December 2000, NeoPharm initiated phase I/II trials of IL-13-PE38QQR involving patients with refractory glioblastoma multiforme. This trial was being conducted by the New Approaches to Brain Tumor Therapy, a research consortium sponsored by the NCI. At that time, the first patient with brain cancer had completed treatment with IL-13-PE38QQR [393197]. In October 1999, NeoPharm initiated phase I trials of hIL-13-PE38QQR for the treatment of patients with RCC [343878]. In February 2000, Dirks & Co estimated the potential US market for hIL-13-PE38QQR to be $5.8 billion [414515].