Delcath Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCTH) today announced that the Company has amended its Investigational New Drug (IND) application and its Expanded Access Program (EAP) to include the use of the second-generation hemofiltration cartridge of the Company's proprietary chemosaturation system. The amendments filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will permit physicians to use the second-generation system in expanded access and compassionate use cases in selected cancer centers trained in the use of the Delcath system. The amendments also permit the use of the second-generation system in clinical trials the Company has planned as part of its Clinical Development Program. Previously, only the first-generation system used in Delcath's clinical trials was available for individual compassionate use cases.
Under the Expanded Access Protocol, eligible patients will be able to receive treatment through enrollment at participating cancer centers. These centers will be able to begin treating patients upon receipt of institutional review board (IRB) approval which the company expects most centers will receive in the third quarter of 2012.
The second-generation hemofiltration cartridge has demonstrated greater efficiency in melphalan removal from the blood in bench-top and in vivo porcine studies. The Company believes that if filtration efficiency is validated in clinical use, the second-generation system may significantly reduce melphalan-associated bone marrow toxicity noted in prior clinical trials.