CytRx’ investigational cancer drug, INNO-206 has caused destruction of implanted tumors in an experimental animal model of breast cancer. It performed considerably better than the broadly used chemotherapeutic drug – doxorubicin, said the company. In addition to improved efficacy in the animal trial, INNO-206 was comparable in toxicity with doxorubicin based on animal body-weight loss.
CytRx has exclusive worldwide rights to INNO-206, a proprietary derivative of doxorubicin. INNO-206 has previously demonstrated safety and tolerability, and optimal dosing has been evaluated in a phase I clinical trial.
At the end of the experiment, tumors had increased in volume by an average of approximately 2.7-fold in the control group. Tumor growth was marginally inhibited in the doxorubicin group, increasing in volume by approximately 1.9-fold in a result that did not reach statistical significance. By contrast, tumors in the group treated with INNO-206 shrank to approximately one-half their initial volume. The decrease in final tumor volume in INNO-206-treated animals was statistically significant (p<0.05), compared to that of either the control or doxorubicin-treated groups.
Steven Kriegsman, President and CEO of CytRx, said: “INNO-206 is one of several drug candidates in CytRx’s asset portfolio that meets these criteria due to its apparent ability to target multiple tumor types, making it potentially efficacious in other cancers.”
INNO-206 is a prodrug of the commonly prescribed chemotherapeutic doxorubicin, and was designed to reduce adverse events by controlling release and preferentially targeting the tumor.