BioWorld International Correspondent

PARIS - BioAlliance Pharma SA reported the final results of its Phase I/II trial of doxorubicin Transdrug in primary liver cancer.

Describing the results as "encouraging," CEO Dominique Costantini said "doxorubicin Transdrug offers a promising therapeutic alternative to patients suffering from this very aggressive type of liver cancer, for which no satisfactory therapy is currently available. The positive results of this clinical trial give us an excellent incentive to continue the development of this product and of our Transdrug platform for this and other indications."

Transdrug is a proprietary nanotechnology that allows intracellular drug targeting for optimal efficacy and tolerability, while doxorubicin is a chemotherapeutic agent that has proved effective in treating many forms of cancer. Doxorubicin Transdrug is injected directly into the liver via a catheter inserted in the hepatic artery.

The drug has been granted orphan drug status by the EMEA in Europe and the FDA in the U.S. for hepatocellular carcinoma, the most fatal form of liver cancer for which no approved treatment exists. A Phase II/III trial of the drug is due to get under way before the year end.

BioAlliance is specialized in the development of therapeutics to treat drug resistance in cancer, HIV and severe and opportunistic infections. Transdrug is one of two proprietary technology platforms it has developed, the other being its Lauriad adhesive technology which allows early and prolonged release of therapeutic agents at the site of the disease.