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news.Poniard Pharmaceuticals has released preliminary data from an ongoing Phase I trial of oral picoplatin in patients with advanced cancer showing that picoplatin can achieve oral bioavailability of 30 to 40% in doses tested, which is consistent with earlier preclinical oral bioavailability studies.
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The Phase I study is comparing the bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety of picoplatin administered orally with picoplatin administered intravenously in patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies. Bioavailability refers to the fraction of an administered dose of an unchanged drug that reaches systemic circulation. The company plans to present data from the Phase I trial at scientific meetings in 2008.
Jerry McMahon, chairman and CEO of Poniard, said: “We are very encouraged by these initial oral bioavailability results because they support further clinical development of oral picoplatin. Our progress with the intravenous formulation of picoplatin also suggests potential for an oral formulation of the same chemical entity delivered by the oral route.
“We plan to develop oral picoplatin as a distinct product opportunity for multiple tumor indications. We believe there is a significant unmet need for improved platinum therapies and that oral platinum-based chemotherapeutics, such as picoplatin, have the potential for use in new indications and in novel combinations with other orally administered cancer treatments or radiation therapy.”