The agreement includes an exclusive license to data from a planned study intended to provide long-term follow-up on the hearing status, disease-free status and overall survival of patients from the completed Phase III trial.
Adherex is currently evaluating sodium thiosulfate (STS) in a multi-centered, randomized Phase III trial in collaboration with Children’s Oncology Group (COG) in children receiving cisplatin chemotherapy for newly diagnosed germ cell, liver (hepatoblastoma), brain (medulloblastoma), nerve tissue (neuroblastoma) or bone (osteosarcoma) cancers. The trial is expected to enroll up to 120 patients over approximately three years in up to 230 COG centers in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe.
Adherex is also conducting a multi-centered, randomized Phase III trial of STS in children with liver (hepatoblastoma) cancer in collaboration with the International Childhood Liver Tumour Strategy Group (known as SIOPEL), a multi-disciplinary group of specialists under the umbrella of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP), which is expected to enroll up to 100 patients in centers in up to 33 participating countries.
William Peters, chairman and CEO of Adherex, said: “This agreement and the long-term follow-up data are valuable additions to our ongoing STS Phase III studies with SIOPEL and the Children’s Oncology Group and our planned trial in adult head and neck cancer patients.”