Azixa is a novel small molecule that acts as a microtubule destabilising agent, causing an arrest of cell division with subsequent programmed cell death, or apoptosis, in cancer cells.
Myrexis, focused on discovering, developing and commercialising novel treatments for cancer, said that Azixa monotherapy was well-tolerated and demonstrated anti-tumor activity with a mean overall survival of 105 days in patients who had failed prior Avastin (bevacizumab) treatment.
In addition to the ongoing Phase 2 Azixa monotherapy study in treatment-experienced GBM patients with recurrent disease, Myrexis plans to initiate enrollment in a Phase 2b clinical study of Azixa in front-line GBM patients later this year.
The planned two-arm, randomised, controlled study will evaluate Azixa in combination with standard of care, which consists of temozolomide plus radiation therapy, compared to standard of care alone.
Myrexis president and CEO Adrian Hobden said that the overall prognosis for GBM patients who fail second-line Avastin therapy is extremely poor and believe that the best approach to improve the prognosis of GBM is to treat patients with Azixa earlier in their disease.
"Azixa represents a novel therapeutic with high CNS penetration and encouraging signs of activity in GBM patients. We intend to initiate a study of Azixa in combination with temozolomide and radiation therapy in newly diagnosed patients with GBM," Hobden said.