Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) has successfully completed the first cohort in its Phase 1b clinical trial of PTX-200 plus cytarabine for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
AML is a form of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, resulting in the overproduction of immature white blood cells and rendering the sufferer unable to fight infections.
Prescient’s PTX-200 inhibits an important tumour survival pathway known as Akt, which plays a key role in the development of many cancers, including breast and ovarian cancer, as well as leukaemia.
The first cohort treated three patients with relapsed or refractory AML using a dose of PTX-200 in combination with cytarabine, a chemotherapy medication.
Importantly, the trial is progressing well to date, with no significant safety issues, along with some early signals of efficacy.
The trial is proceeding to the next dose level, with the second cohort now open for enrolment.
PTX-200 is a promising drug candidate, which has great potential as a new treatment for many cancers, including breast and ovarian cancer.
Early studies have shown that PTX-200 sensitises chemo-resistant ovarian cancer cells to the chemotherapy drug cisplatin.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women in the U.S. and the fourth most common cause of cancer deaths.
Prescient is well funded to progress trials of the drug with a cash balance of $9.45 million as at 31 December 2016.