HUTCHMED China Limited, currently the largest company on AIM, said it had begun dosing its first patient in a phase III clinical trial of a treatment it is developing for a form of intestinal cancer.
The study, taking place in China, will pair the company’s Sulanda drug candidate with toripalimab and compare their performance with the standard of care, a product called Folfiri.
The combination will be administered to people with neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) who have progression of the disease or intolerable toxicity after previous first-line chemotherapy.
Lead investigator Professor Shen Lin said: "There is a large unmet clinical need for patients with NEC, many of whom have a bleak prognosis.
“Following the encouraging preliminary data from the phase II trial, we are excited to move into the next stage of development in combining the novel, oral angio-immuno kinase inhibitor surufatinib with the anti-PD-1 antibody toripalimab.
“We look forward to further testing the synergistic anti-tumor effects of this combination that could benefit NEC patients who have limited treatment options."