Phase 1/2 clinical trial of TRC105 therapy initiated for patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer

TRACON Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company that develops targeted therapies for oncology and ophthalmology, announced today that the National Cancer Institute has initiated a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of TRC105 therapy for patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer. TRC105 is TRACON's monoclonal antibody to CD105, an endothelial cell membrane receptor that is essential for the process of new blood vessel formation called angiogenesis. By inhibiting angiogenesis and attacking blood vessels in established tumors, TRC105 is expected to have activity against a wide variety of solid cancer types.  TRC105 was developed by the Seon group at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and licensed to TRACON.  The National Cancer Institute and TRACON  have entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to collaborate over a 5-year period on the development of  TRC105 as a treatment for prostate cancer, the most common cancer affecting men in the United States.