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KS Biomedix brain cancer drug looks good in trial
Reuters, Sunday October 20, 2002
A novel drug for brain cancer from British biotechnology firm KS Biomedix has produced promising results in Phase II clinical trials, scientists said on Sunday.
The treatment, named TransMID, belongs to a new class of therapies called immunotoxins. It works by smuggling the powerful diphtheria toxin into rapidly dividing brain cancer cells, with minimal harm to surrounding healthy tissue.
Dr. Sunil Patel, associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, said 35 percent of patients in the study recorded a complete or partial response when given the drug.
"We were delighted by the success of the trial. The proportion of the patients responding to TransMID was far in excess of our original goal of five percent," Patel told a meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology.
A final Phase III trial of the drug, which analysts say is KS Biomedix´s most important product, is scheduled to begin shortly.
The company has licensed European and Japanese rights to TransMID in two separate deals worth up to $85 million.
If approved by regulators, TransMID´s first use will be in the treatment of patients with high-grade gliomas, or brain tumours.
KS Biomedix estimates that about 20,000 patients are diagnosed with new cases of primary brain cancer in Europe every year, of which over half will have high-grade gliomas and a life expectancy of around six months.
Several U.S. biotech companies are also developing similar targeted toxin products for brain tumours.