Evgen Pharma PLC (AIM:EVG) said it has expanded its work with the Manchester Breast Centre in what it described as a “continued drive to establish the optimum clinical positioning” for lead asset SFX-01 in metastatic breast cancer (mBC).
Specifically, the company will be working with Professor Rob Clarke and his team to assess the potential use of the drug when patients become resistant to CDK4/6 inhibitor drugs.
It pointed out that "an increasing body of data" had shown that SFX-01 may suppress tumour growth and metastasis (cancer spread) in patients who have become resistant to the new standard of care for certain forms of breast cancer.
As well as carrying out in vitro lab work to further support its thesis, Evgen said the team also plans to use in vivo, or biological models.
This, it said, would optimum support for any resulting clinical trial on women with HER-2 negative, ER-positive breast cancer where the inhibitor treatment is showing weakening effect.
Evgen chief executive, Dr Huw Jones, said: "Breast cancer remains our top priority alongside brain cancer, and we hope ultimately to provide an effective treatment for these patients as the current options for treatment become more limited."
Palbociclib, marketed by Pfizer, is the leading CDK4/6 inhibitor. In 2019 its sales were around US$5bn.