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news.Biopharmaceutical firm Ziopharm Oncology has received a second US patent to cover organic arsenic, which the company is developing as an anticancer compound.
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The patent issue follows an announcement of a notice of allowance in mid-January. The patent provides further coverage of cancer treatment using organic arsenic, including ZIO-101, in combination with other agents or therapies.
ZIO-101 is a small molecule in-licensed from The University of Texas M D Anderson Cancer Center and Texas A&M University. It is currently in phase I/II clinical studies in patients with advanced myeloma.
The company also has a second organic arsenic, ZIO-102, undergoing preclinical study. Several other organic arsenic molecules, in-licensed with ZIO-101 and ZIO-102 and newly synthesized from the collaboration agreement with Texas A&M, have been identified as potential candidates.
“We believe we have broad intellectual property for our organic arsenic program, and the issuance of this patent is an important and timely development, as we have just treated the first patient in our ZIO-101 phase I/II trial in advanced myeloma,” Said Dr Jonathan Lewis, Ziopharm’s CEO.
Dr Lewis continued: “ZIO-101 has shown promising evidence of activity in ongoing phase I trials at doses substantially higher than those used with approved inorganic arsenic. Additional trials are in the advanced planning stages to build from our phase I and phase I/II studies.”