TSX Venture: QPT
EDMONTON, June 9,
2014 /PRNewswire/ - Quest PharmaTech Inc. (TSX-V: QPT)
("Quest" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical company developing and
commercializing products for the treatment of cancer, reports today
that patient enrollment has been completed in the Company's Phase
IIb clinical trial of its lead immunotherapy product candidate
Oregovomab for the treatment of Ovarian Cancer.
"I am pleased that we have reached this important
milestone in our clinical program" said Dr. Madi Madiyalakan, CEO of Quest. "I would
like to thank everyone involved in the trial that helped to realize
this significant Company objective."
This clinical study is the first of three
clinical trials that the Company is conducting for its lead
immunotherapy product Oregovomab in conjunction with preclinical
studies dissecting combinatorial immunotherapy. It is a Phase IIb
study with 80 patients for assessing the safety and bioactivity of
combination chemo-immunotherapy of advanced ovarian cancer using
standard front line carboplatin paclitaxel chemotherapy in
combination with the anti-CA125 antibody Oregovomab relative to
chemotherapy alone. Thirteen clinical centers in Italy and the U.S are participating in the
study with Professor Angioli at University Campus Bio Medico in
Rome, Italy as the principal
investigator. The objective of this study is to confirm the
specific immune response seen in the combination front line setting
(Braly 2009) in a population with more favorable surgical
debulking. The enrolled patients will complete the treatment
schedule and be followed up for long term disease outcomes.
Immunology data for all patients who completed the treatment phase
will be analyzed and evaluated while the final survival data is
being collected.
"Quest is focusing on combination strategies to
improve the demonstrated power of the immune system to control
cancer", commented Dr. Christopher
Nicodemus, M.D. FACP, Chairman of the Company's clinical
advisory board. "Recent advances with checkpoint blockade have
revolutionized this field, and antibody directed stimulation of
specific immunity in conjunction with newly established approaches
has the potential to raise the bar still higher".
The Company is also studying Oregovomab
clinically in combination with chemotherapy and radiotherapy in
CA125 positive pancreatic cancer patients, and plans a
combinatorial study with the immune stimulator, Hiltonol™ (a
TRL3 agonist) in conjunction with
standard chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients. Quest anticipates
the completion of these clinical studies and associated preclinical
studies further exploring combinations with immune regulators
will not only serve to validate the superiority of the
combinatorial approach but will also establish a definitive
registration path for the Company's portfolio of antigen
specific antibody products.
About Quest PharmaTech Inc.
Quest PharmaTech is a publicly traded, Canadian
based clinical stage company developing a portfolio of product
candidates for the treatment of cancer by combining
immunotherapeutic antibodies with chemotherapy, immune-adjuvants
and photodynamic therapy. Quest has a body of clinical experience
and a new appreciation of the obstacles and potential of
combinatorial immunotherapeutic approaches to cancer by using
either immunoglobulin G or E as immune modulators to enhance tumor
specific immunity and clinical outcome.
The most advanced of its product candidates is
Oregovomab, an anti-CA125 monoclonal antibody, in combination with
front-line chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced ovarian
cancer which is currently undergoing a Phase IIb clinical trial in
13 centers in Italy and the U.S.
The Company's MUC1 program that has already undergone a Phase I
clinical trial has the potential to permit tumor specific
immunization in more than 70% of all cancers that kill. Quest
is also conducting a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of
prostate cancer, with its photosensitizer, SL052.
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accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Quest PharmaTech Inc.