The company presented the data at 2006 Bone Marrow Transplant Meetings in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Alkylators like cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide are widely used to prepare people for blood cell and bone marrow transplant. However, use of these drugs in high doses is complicated by substantial kidney, bladder, and central nervous system toxicities because of the presence of certain metabolites.
According to the company, ZIO-201 is the active metabolite of ifosfamide and therefore is not associated with the adverse effects from other metabolites generated from the metabolism of ifosfamide.
ZIO-201 was also active against a range of animal and human cancers in model systems. Moreover, ZIO-201 was active against cancers resistant to cyclophosphamide and/or ifosfamide.