Drug developer ValiRx (LON:VAL) is readying to expand the reach of its lead drug, VAL201, to female infertility condition endometriosis.
VAL201 is currently going through a phase I/II trial as a prostate cancer treatment.
ValiRx, though, carried out pre-clinical work using the drug for the treatment of endometriosis and after the performance of VAL201 in its trial thus far, the protocol for an in-human ("in vivo") test is now being designed.
Globally, the endometriosis market is forecast to be worth US$1.3bn by 2017 and there are estimated to be 170mln sufferers worldwide.
So far, VAL201 has shown a high degree of safety and tolerability in the cancer trial with results to date comparable to pre-clinical studies both in vivo and in vitro.
ValiRx is now adding additional centres for the dose escalation stage of the trial, which help it meet the planned schedule. Further cohorts of subjects are being recruited as the dose expansion phase completes.
The company’s joint venture developing VAL401, a treatment for locally advanced or metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, has also registered the drug for a European trial.