Cancer Research UK, of London, said its Drug Development Office launched a phase Ib trial testing whether the vaccine MVA-EBNA1/LMP2 boosts patient immunity to the common Epstein-Barr virus in nasopharyngeal carcinomas and any side effects from booster shots. The interventional trial will test immune response in 18 patients recruited at hospitals across the UK, including a number of centers in the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre Network, with additional patients taking part in a related trial in Hong Kong. Data collection is anticipated in May 2016.

E-Therapeutics plc, of Oxford, UK, said the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has allowed it to resume recruiting patients for its phase Ia trial of ETS2101 in solid tumors after a drug storage issue forced the company to halt recruitment in January. Patients enrolled in the trial before the stoppage continued to be dosed in accordance with trial protocol. Despite the hiccup, E-Therapeutics expects to report data from the trial in the first quarter of 2014 as originally planned. The company is still working with U.S. investigators and regulators to secure permission to resume recruitment and dose escalation for a separate phase Ia study of ETS2101 in brain cancer at the University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

Mast Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, initiated a phase II, proof-of-concept study of MST-188 in combination with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) in patients with acute lower limb ischemia (ALI). MST-188 to treat ALI was granted orphan drug designation by the FDA. The study will enroll approximately 60 patients from 15 sites with Rutherford Category IIa and IIb acute lower limb ischemia receiving catheter-directed rt-PA and compare a high and low dose of MST-188 against rt-PA alone. The primary objectives are to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MST-188 in combination with rt-PA and whether MST-188 results in more rapid thrombolysis and tissue perfusion. The study is expected to take approximately 18 months to enroll.