Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.AmpliMed has initiated patient enrollment for a multi-center, phase I/II clinical trial that will study its lead candidate, Amplimexon in combination with gemcitabine as a treatment for patients with previously untreated advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
The AmpliMed study will determine the maximum tolerated doses of Amplimexon (imexon injection) as well as its toxicity in combination with gemcitabine (marketed by Eli Lilly as Gemzar) in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma, in preparation for subsequent phase II clinical trials.
Data on tumor response and clinical benefit will also be collected and compared against historical control data in order to help establish the parameters for future clinical development.
Amplimexon has a unique way of attacking cancer cells that appears to avoid bone marrow toxicity and drug resistance that limits the usefulness of other chemotherapies. Amplimexon appears to do this by causing the disruption of mitochondria, the energy producing factories of the cancer cell, resulting in the leakage of toxic substances which kill cancer cells.
“This is the first protocol specifically designed to establish the patient tolerance of a combination of Amplimexon and a commonly prescribed cancer chemotherapeutic,” said Dr Evan Hersh, vice president for clinical affairs and chief medical officer of AmpliMed. “Preclinical findings in models of resistant pancreatic cancer have suggested that the combination of Amplimexon and gemcitabine may be significantly more effective than either drug alone and well tolerated.”