Pharmaceutical Business review

Adherex initiates study of cancer combination therapy

Adherex commented that as 5-FU is one of the most commonly prescribed anti agents in the world, it expected the combination of eniluracil + 5-FU to be rapidly adopted by oncologists if the study was successful and demonstrated that the therapy was more efficient than 5-FU alone.

“Liver cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer death in the world and particularly in Asia, yet there are currently no satisfactory treatments,” said Rajesh Malik, Adherex’s Chief Medical Officer.

Although liver cancer is one of the most common tumors in the world, it is less common in the US providing the opportunity for orphan drug status. In December 2005, Adherex received orphan drug designation from the FDA for the use of eniluracil in combination with fluoropyrimidines (including 5-FU) to treat liver cancer.

Adherex is developing eniluracil, in-licensed from GlaxoSmithKline in July 2005, to improve the therapeutic value and effectiveness of 5-FU.