| VIVENTIA BIOTECH INITIATES PATIENT
TREATMENT FOR PHASE I TRIAL OF VB6-845 ANTI-CANCER ANTIBODY
Toronto, Canada, June 11, 2007 –
Viventia Biotech Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical
company advancing a portfolio of novel antibody products
for the treatment of cancer, today announced it has initiated
patient dosing for its Phase I clinical trial of VB6-845.
Designed for systemic use against metastatic cancers, VB6-845
is a humanized antibody fragment targeting EpCAM fused with
the Company’s proprietary deimmunized form of the
cytotoxic protein Bouganin.
The Phase I dose-escalation trial will enroll 40-50 patients
with advanced epithelial cancers that are EpCAM positive
and is designed to establish the safety and preliminary
efficacy of this novel cytotoxic conjugate. The study will
be conducted as a solid tumors “all comers”
trial, so that accrual can be expedited and a range of responses
obtained.
“Our unique approach to creating cancer drugs has
yielded a novel antibody-based therapeutic with the potential
to be safer than traditional cancer treatments while attacking
cancers in their most lethal form, once they have metastasized,”
said Dr. Nick Glover, President and CEO of Viventia Biotech.
“We look forward to advancing this Phase I trial and
evaluating the safety and early efficacy results expected
later this year.”
VB6-845 has demonstrated effective cancer cell killing
properties in pre-clinical tests. A full array of animal
efficacy studies and safety studies of VB6-845 for the treatment
of ovarian cancer and other solid tumors has been completed.
In animal xenograft studies, VB6-845 elicited 100% complete
cures of established ovarian tumors. VB6-845 has been shown
to be safely tolerated in both primate and rodent animal
safety studies.
Viventia is expanding its late-stage pipeline with additional
novel anti-cancer therapeutics consisting of human antibodies
obtained from its proprietary antibody generation platform
Hybridomics™ conjugated to its proprietary cytotoxic
protein Bouganin. Viventia retains full global product rights
to all of its drug candidates and technology platforms.
The Company’s business development efforts are focused
on identifying and selecting a partner capable of complementing
Viventia’s development expertise with global sales,
marketing and commercialization capabilities.
About Bouganin
Originally isolated from the Amazonian tropical shrub, Bougainvillea spectabilis, Bouganin is a novel ribosome inactivating protein
from an emerging class of novel anti-cancer and anti-viral
agents isolated from various plant species. Bouganin has
a benign safety profile against normal, healthy cells, but
has potent anti-cancer activity against many types of epithelial
tumors. Viventia has further maximized the therapeutic potential
of this promising cytotoxic protein through deimmunization,
a method that renders the plant protein invisible to the
immune system, thus facilitating systemic, multi-dose therapeutic
strategies. Bouganin is being developed by Viventia Biotech
as a key component in its anti-metastatic cancer program.
About Viventia Biotech:
Viventia Biotech Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing
Armed Antibodies™, powerful and precise anti-cancer
drugs that combine cytotoxic protein payloads with the highly
precise tumor-targeting characteristics of monoclonal antibodies
to overcome various forms of cancer. Viventia’s lead
product, Proxinium™, is undergoing a global Phase
III clinical trial for the treatment of head and neck cancer.
Viventia is also developing Vicinium™, which is undergoing
a Phase II clinical study for the treatment of bladder cancer.
The Company has created a portfolio of follow-on antibody-based
drug candidates and has a discovery engine to provide a
rich and sustainable long-term pipeline.
For further information, please contact:
James Smith
Tel. (416) 815-0700 x 229
Fax. (416) 815-0080
Email:
jsmith@viventia.com
www.viventia.com
www.proxinium.com
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