2012 Congress held in Vienna, Austria | |||||
Company |
Product |
Description |
Indication |
Status |
Date |
Active Biotech AB (Lund, Sweden) and Ipsen SA (Paris) |
TASQ |
Tasquinimod |
Chemotherapy-naive metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer |
Phase II data supported an effect of tasquinomid on both immunomodulation and angiogenesis |
10/2/12 |
Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (San Diego) |
ARN-509 |
Second-generation androgen receptor antagonist |
Castration-resistant prostate cancer |
Phase II data showed treatment was well tolerated and resulted in robust and durable prostate-specific antigen responses |
10/2/12 |
Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) |
AP26113 |
Tyrosine kinase inhibitor |
Advanced non-small-cell lung cancer |
Phase I/II data showed the drug appeared to be well tolerated, and the maximum-tolerated dose had not yet been reached |
10/2/12 |
AVEO Oncology Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (Tokyo) |
Tivozanib |
A drug designed to inhibit all three vascular endothelial growth factor receptors |
Metastatic renal cell carcinoma |
Phase III data showed patients receiving tivozanib had fewer Grade 3 and off-target adverse events, stayed on treatment longer and required fewer dose reductions and interruptions, compared with those treated with Nexavar |
10/2/12 |
Bavarin Nordic A/S (Kvistgaard, Denmark) |
CV-301 |
An immunotherapy product |
Metastatic breast cancer |
Phase II data of CV-301 , in combination with docetaxel, showed progression-free survival of 6.6 months, compared to 3.8 months in the docetaxel-only arm |
10/2/12 |
BioAlliance SA (Paris) |
AMEP |
Biotherapy designed to target specific receptors particularly expressed by melanoma cells and vascular endothelial cells |
Metastatic melanoma |
Phase I data showed it had a good safety profile |
10/2/12 |
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (New York) |
Yervoy |
Ipilimumab |
Metastatic melanoma |
Phase III data showed a four-year survival rate of 19% when used with dacarbazine, compared to 9.6% for dacarbazine alone |
10/2/12 |
CytrRx Corp. (Los Angeles) |
INNO-206 |
Tumor-targeting doxorubicin conjugate aldoxorubicin |
Advanced soft-tissue sarcoma |
Phase Ib/II data showed clinical benefit in 10 of 13 evaluable patients |
10/2/12 |
Eli Lilly and Co. (Indianapolis) |
IMC-1121B |
Ramucirumab |
Non-small-cell lung cancer |
Phase II data showed interim progression-free survival of 4.3 months for the control arm and 6.3 months for the experimental arm |
10/2/12 |
Exelixis Inc. (South San Francisco) |
Cabozantinib |
A tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting the MET and VEGF signaling pathways |
Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases |
Data from 51 patients suggested the 40-mg daily dose has similar clinical activity to the 100-mg daily dose |
10/2/12 |
Exelixis Inc. (South San Francisco) and Roche AG (Basel, Switzerland) |
Zelboraf |
BRAF inhibitor; vemurafenib |
Locally advanced/unresectable or metastatic melanoma |
In a Phase Ib trial, two cohorts receiving 60 mg of MEK inhibitor GDC-0973 on a 21/7 day schedule with vemurafenib at 720 mg and 960 mg were selected for expansion |
10/2/12 |
Genentech Inc. (South San Francisco) and ImmunoGen Inc. (Waltham, Mass.) |
T-DM1 |
Antibody-drug conjugate |
Breast cancer |
Phase III data showed it yielded a reduced death risk of 32% for women with HER2-positive breast cancer who had previously been treated with herceptin plus a taxane |
10/2/12 |
Helsinn Group (Lugano, Switzerland) |
Palonosetron |
Oral version; second-generation 5-HT3 receptor antagonist |
To prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting |
Proved effective and safe in an open-label study |
10/2/12 |
Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, N.J.) |
Zytiga |
Abiraterone acetate |
Prostate cancer |
Phase III data suggested Zytiga plus predinsone, compared to placebo plus prednisone, delayed pain progression and functional decline in asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients whose disease progressed after androgen deprivation therapy and anti-androgens |
10/2/12 |
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) |
MM-121 and MM-111 |
Targets ErbB3, a signaling receptor |
Advanced metastatic breast and ovarian cancers, and advanced HER2-positive solid tumors |
Phase I data showed the two potential therapies targeting ErbB3 were found to be safe, with signs of clinical benefit |
10/3/12 |
Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Co. (Cambridge, Mass.) and Seattle Genetics Inc. (Bothell, Wash.) |
Brentuximab vedotin |
Antibody-drug conjugate |
Lymphomas |
Phase I data showed early activity and manageable side effects |
10/2/12 |
Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Lexington, Mass.) |
Ganetespib |
Heat-shock protein 90 inhibitor |
Non-small-cell lung cancer |
Interim analysis of a Phase IIb trial showed trends of efficacy in second-line NSCLC patients with adenocarcinoma as well as in all prespecified patient subgroups |
10/2/12 |
Zeltia SA (Madrid, Spain) |
PM01183 |
Lurbenectedin |
Ovarian cancer |
Gained positive results in a Phase II trial in 73% of patients |
10/2/12 |
Notes: Public biotech company stock symbols can be found in the stock report located on the last two pages of this issue. The date indicated refers to the BioWorld Today issue in which the news item can be found. |