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New activity from established therapeutic

Clinical trials of a new platinum-based cancer drug could hold promise for many cancer patients, in particular the nearly 25,000 women in the United States who each year develop ovarian cancer, according to research presented during the 2000 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies held in Honolulu this week.

Platinum is front-line therapy for ovarian and testicular cancer. One of the principal platinum drugs, cisplatin, is effective but ovarian cancer cells in particular quickly become resistance to the drug. In mice, the new platinum medication showed activity against cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer.

The new drug is the first genuinely new platinum agent to enter clinical trials in 30 years, according to Nicholas Farrell of Virginia Commonwealth University, an inventor of the drug. Farrell believes his compound could be on the market as early as 2004.

Code-named BBR3464, it belongs to a new class of platinum drugs, which emerged from joint research by Farrell and Novuspharama SpA (formerly Boehringer Mannheim Italia R&D; Monza, Italy). By manipulating the molecular structure, Farrell and his colleagues found a way to attack

The new drug is also significantly more potent than cisplatin, which means much lower doses and lower overall toxicity.

In Phase I studies of 47 cancer patients completed in Europe last year, the new class of drugs showed preliminary signs of activity against pancreatic cancer, melanoma and lung cancer, Farrell said. Phase II clinical trials, which could involve more than 200 patients, are underway in Europe and the United States. One study will deal specifically with ovarian cancer.

For more information, contact Nicholas Farrell of Virginia Commonwealth University at 804-828-6320 or nfarrell@saturn.vcu.edu.

Edited by Angelo DePalma
Managing Editor, Drug Discovery Online and Pharmaceutical Online
adepalma@vertical.net