Pharmaceutical Business review

OxiGene compound enhances Avastin’s efficacy

In a colorectal cancer model, the inclusion of CA4P in a two-week treatment regime with Avastin extended the time to progression of these tumors to five times treatment size from 14 days (Avastin alone) to 19 days (Avastin plus CA4P).

Professor Dietmar Siemann, chairman of OxiGene’s scientific advisory board, stated that the results were encouraging and warranted further investigation of CA4P in treatment regimes that use anti-angiogenic agents such as Avastin.

“The anti-tumor benefits achieved in this tumor model combining CA4P with Avastin adds to the increasing evidence obtained in our laboratory indicating that combining different approaches that target tumor blood vessels is a strategy worthy of evaluation in a clinical setting,” Siemann commented.

CA4P is currently being studied in seven clinical trials in oncology, including lung, head and neck, prostate, colorectal, ovarian, and cervical cancers. It is also being studied in a phase I/II trial in wet age-related macular degeneration and a phase II trial in myopic macular degeneration.