Amplia Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ATX) has handpicked leading drug developer José Iglesias MD to serve the company as an oncology clinical advisor.
The pharmaceutical veteran spent his career to date clinically developing new oncology treatments and was responsible for the pivotal anti-cancer drug Abraxane®.
Used in tandem with chemotherapy, Abraxane is described as the “cornerstone treatment” for the standard of care in patients with pancreatic cancer.
Dr Iglesias brings more than three decades’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry to the role and will advise on Amplia’s clinical pipeline, which focuses on cancers and fibrotic diseases.
Extensive experience “invaluable”
Speaking to the appointment, Amplia managing director and CEO John Lambert said the company was “delighted” that Dr Iglesias had agreed to be a clinical advisor.
“Dr Iglesias’ extensive experience in the clinical development of new oncology drugs will be invaluable as we run our phase two clinical trial of AMP945 in pancreatic cancer patients starting early next year.
“José’s experience in leading the development of the current standard of care, to which we plan to add AMP945, will be particularly relevant and will greatly enhance our ability to both run the trial and interpret the emergent clinical data.”
Advancing clinical pipeline
Currently, Amplia is advancing a pipeline of drug candidates that act as crucial inhibitors for diseases like cancer and fibrosis.
It’s particularly interested in pancreatic and ovarian cancer treatments, and the cornerstone Abraxane treatment is the first clinical indication for its AMP945 drug candidate.
It’s one of two drugs in Amplia’s pipeline, both of which are proprietary, orally available Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) inhibitors for cancer and fibrosis.
Pancreatic cancer is considered one of the world’s most deadly — only between 5% and 10% of sufferers reach a five-year survival rate.
Roughly 60,000 people in the US, and nearly 4,000 people in Australia, are diagnosed with the cancer each year.
Presently, the only potential cure is surgical removal, but just 20% of patients are eligible for this course of action.
Other patients rely on chemotherapy in tandem with oncology drugs like Abraxane.
Commenting on his appointment to the ATX team, Dr Iglesias said: “I am very pleased to be working with Amplia on their exciting new approach to tackle pancreatic cancer.
“Pancreatic cancer continues to be such a devastating and poorly managed disease that new approaches to treatment, like the one being pursued by Amplia, are urgently required.
“I am really excited to join this great team of people at such an exciting stage of drug development.”