BPH is a condition in which the prostate gland becomes enlarged, placing increased pressure around the urethra resulting in difficult and painful urinary flow. Current drug and surgical therapies for BPH are not very effective, often having slow onset and with side effects.
PRX302 is a targeted toxin-based therapy that destroys diseased cells without harming surrounding healthy tissue.
“We are hopeful that PRX302 will be the first drug to target what is believed to be the root cause of BPH, instead of only treating the symptoms,” said Dr Fahar Merchant, president and CEO of Protox.
In addition to determining safety and tolerability of PRX302, the planned phase I clinical trial will also investigate the effects of PRX302 on the symptoms of the illness.
Preclinical studies have shown that PRX302 dramatically reduces prostate size. Decrease in prostate size may reduce the pressure around the urethra and possibly restore normal urine flow.
In addition to BPH, the company is also developing PRX302 for the treatment of prostate cancer and plans to announce interim results from the phase I prostate cancer trial later this year.