• Anavex Life Sciences Corp., of Hoboken, N.J., started the 30-mg dose step in its ongoing Phase I trial of ANAVEX 2-73, its lead candidate for Alzheimer's disease. No adverse effects have been recorded to date. The study is designed to test single, ascending oral doses in healthy male volunteers.

• CytRx Corp., of Los Angeles, reported that its tumor-targeted doxorubicin conjugate, INNO-206, has delivered doxorubicin safely at doses more than four times higher than the standard doxorubicin dose in its open-label Phase Ib trial. All eight patients treated in the study to date were diagnosed with advanced soft-tissue sarcomas. A total of 24 patients with advanced solid tumors who have failed standard therapies will be enrolled in the ongoing trial.

• Oncolytics Biotech Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, presented interim results from a Phase II trial of intravenously administered Reolysin in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in non-small-cell lung cancer patients with KRAS or EGFR-activated tumors, showing six partial responses in 21 patients (28.6 percent), 13 with stable disease (61.9 percent) and two with progressive disease (9.5 percent). Data were presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer meeting in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.