Published on December 15, 2009 at 7:46 AM
The Norwegian pharmaceutical company Lytix Biopharma AS today announced
approvals from the Norwegian Medicines Agency (”Statens legemiddelverk”)
and the Swedish Medical Products Agency (”Läkemedelverket”) to commence
Phase I clinical trials of OncoporeTM (LTX-315) for the
treatment of cancer.
According to Lytix Biopharma CEO Gunnar Sælid, “We are delighted to
announce the regulatory approval by the Norwegian and Swedish
Authorities to test our very interesting experimental drug OncoporeTM
(LTX-315) in the clinic. I am extremely pleased with the efforts put in
by our Drug Development teams this year, with all projects progressing
well according to our plans. For the Company this is an important study,
validating the attractiveness of our platform in oncology. We will now
have two programs in clinical trials; on the one hand our topical
antimicrobial drug, and now our novel treatment for cancer”.
In preclinical models LTX-315 has demonstrated the ability to effect
necrotic killing of cancer cells. Simulatenously it also causes the
release of danger signals from the stressed and dying cells that trigger
a beneficial activation of the immune system.
”The study will start in the beginning of 2010 and will be run at two
centers, The Norwegian Radium Hospital – National Hospital in Oslo, as
well as the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden.
Initially, the Phase I study will establish a safe and tolerated dose of
LTX-315 when given to solid tumours amenable to injection. OncoporeTM
(LTX-315) has the potential to becoming a valuable new agent for the
treatment of cancer”, says Jon Amund Eriksen, Director of Product
Development, Oncology at Lytix Biopharma AS. The clinical trial is
supported by grants from The Norwegian Cancer Association
(“Kreftforeningen”), The Norwegian Research Council (“Forskningsrådet”)
and Innovation Norway (“Innovasjon Norge”).
http://www.lytixbiopharma.com/