NeoRx expands picoplatin lung-cancer trial into Eastern Europe

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., April 25 - NeoRx Corp. has expanded its phase 2 clinical trial of picoplatin for lung cancer into selected Eastern European countries with the treatment of the first patients there.

The open-label, multi-center study of picoplatin, the company's lead oncology therapeutic candidate, is continuing to enroll patients with small cell lung cancer at clinical sites in the United States and Canada, according to a news release.

Picoplatin is a platinum therapy that provides a differentiated spectrum of activity, reduced reactivity and an improved safety profile, the release said.

An intravenous chemotherapeutic agent, picoplatin is designed to overcome platinum resistance associated with the treatment of solid tumors. In addition, testing in more than 500 patients in phase 1 and 2 safety and efficacy studies indicated that picoplatin has a more manageable safety profile with fewer side effects than currently available platinum-based therapies.

"New drugs are urgently needed that are active in small cell lung cancer and that can overcome the drug resistance that occurs with currently available platinum compounds. We believe that picoplatin is a promising agent for the treatment of this aggressive and deadly form of lung cancer," chairman and chief executive officer Jerry McMahon said in the release.

"The expansion of our phase 2 trial into Eastern Europe is important because small cell lung cancer is a serious disease in both North America and Europe, allowing us to maximize access to patients on both continents for our clinical study."

NeoRx is a Seattle-based specialty pharmaceutical company that develops oncology drugs.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.