Cancer, the group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth and spread, is synonymous with pain while the word itself has become a noun for something evil or destructive that is hard to eradicate.
Worldwide, according to estimates from the World Health Organisation, the economic cost of cancer is US$1.16 trillion per year.
“Cancer is the second most common cause of death globally, accounting for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018,” WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“The greatest impact of cancer and the fastest increase in the cancer burden over the coming decades is projected to be in low- and middle-income countries, many of which already face difficulties coping with the current burden.”
There are more than 100 different types of cancer and so the fight to eradicate the disease overall can often seem Sisyphean.
But, as Dr Ghebreyesus says, “we have learned that many cancer cases can be prevented, and even when prevention is not possible, early diagnosis saves lives.”
Cancer in Australia
According to the WHO, cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Australia.
But, as outlined in the Proactive Lifesciences Webinar earlier this week, there is no shortage of passionate, talented groups of people doing their best to improve the lives of those suffering from cancer.
And there is a prominent market for it too; some estimates put the global value of oncology and cancer drugs at US$222 billion by 2027.
Between 2016 and 2018, more than $252 million in funding was given to cancer research, with the Australian Government contributing 74% of that.
The funding support, as well as kickbacks for biotech companies such as the research and development grant, are of huge benefit to small caps such as Amplia Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ATX), which is preparing for phase 2 trials of its flagship drug AMP945 in patients with pancreatic cancer.
CEO and managing director John Lambert said the company had high hopes for its efficacy in pancreatic cancer.
“The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is less than 10% so it is a seriously unmet medical need,” he said.
“Even an incremental improvement over the standard of care would be of significant interest to the clinicals treating these patients.
“We also expect that, should it be effective against pancreatic cancer, that it will be able to meet other indications, so we see it as a gateway in that sense.”
Speaking also at the webinar, Patrys CEO and managing director James Campbell told investors that its deoxymab platform, which was based on unique, proprietary antibodies, could have a real impact in the fight against cancer.
“Our technology has the ability to target cancers regardless of the surface markers being expressed, it can cross the blood-brain barrier and it inhibits DNA damage repair,” he said.
“These three characteristics are really attractive goals for drug developing cancer companies.
The war on brain cancer
“We’re particularly excited about its potential in treating brain cancers,” Campbell said.
“Glioblastoma has a tragic five-year survival rate, lower than 6%, and when we injected human glioblastoma cells into mice we saw significant limiting of tumour growth and a 47% improvement in survival rates.”
Patrys is not the only ASX biotech hoping to improve the shocking survival rates for glioblastoma patients - Kazia Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:KZA, NASDAQ:KZIA) is another.
Its pivotal GBM AGILE study of its drug paxalisib is recruiting ahead of expectations, with almost 25 sites now open to the paxalisib arm in the United States across several prestigious centres.
Kazia’s paxalisib phase II study for newly diagnosed glioblastoma is also expected to conclude shortly with the final patient completing drug treatment and a number of patients remaining in follow-up.
To date, GBM AGILE has screened more than 650 patients and progress is expected to accelerate as new sites in new territories come on stream.
Almost 25 sites are open to the paxalisib arm in the United States and the list includes prestigious centres such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Henry Ford Cancer Institute, Columbia University Irving Cancer Research Center, Emory University Winship Cancer Institute and the University of Florida.
Meanwhile, Noxopharm Ltd (ASX:NOX) is exploring a new approach to treating brain cancer in a collaboration with the US National Cancer Institute.
The clinical-stage drug development company inked the cooperative research and development agreement based on a new family of anti-cancer drugs, designed by Noxopharm scientists, with a dual anti-cancer action.
This unique factor is tailored to combat aggressive tumours, including brain and pancreatic cancers because it blocks ‘helper’ signals from surrounding healthy tissue that play a key role in an aggressive cancer’s growth.
Tackling cancer overall
Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:CHM) is hopeful its novel cell therapies could lead to a cure for cancer - its mission is to bring that promise to life for more patients with cancer by discovering, developing and commercialising cell therapies with the most curative potential.
Its Chlorotoxin CAR T (CLTX CAR T) cell clinical trial recently reached a key safety milestone with all patients dosed in the first patient cohort in phase 1 clinical trial progressing beyond the 28-day follow up period without experiencing dose-limiting toxicities
Achievement of this safety milestone enables the trial to progress to the second dosing level, which will introduce dual CLTX CAR T administration (ICT administration and intracranial intraventricular (ICV) administration) at a dose of 88 X 106 CAR T cells.
Imugene Ltd is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing a range of novel immunotherapies that seek to activate the immune system of cancer patients to treat and eradicate tumours.
It recently revealed secondary efficacy endpoint progression-free survival data for its HER-Vaxx immunotherapy in HER-2 positive gastric cancer.
The hope is HER-Vaxx, which is a B-cell activating immunotherapy designed to treat tumours that overexpress the HER-2/neu receptor, could treat not only gastric cancer, but also breast, ovarian, lung and pancreatic cancers.
Pharmaxis Ltd (ASX:PXS) CEO Gary Phillips recently outlined his company’s potential in treating a range of cancers, focusing on bone marrow cancer and liver cancer.
SUDA Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:SUD) has spent the past 12 months advancing its cancer treatment portfolio, which includes the anagrelide formulation, described as a “radically new, first-in-class approach to the treatment of cancer”, and a global, exclusive licence for an iNKT cell therapy platform.
- Daniel Paproth