Patents and positive clinical data from Prescient

Clinical stage oncology company Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) has announced the acquisition of two new US patents to protect its cancer drug PTX-200, which last week provided the company with encouraging early clinical data in an ongoing study.

PTX‐200 is a novel small molecule that works by inhibiting an important tumour survival pathway known as AKT, which plays a key role in the development of many cancers. The first new patent, US Patent 9,101,641, covers Prescient’s method for treating patients with tumours that overexpress AKT kinase.

The second patent, US Patent 9,115,162, covers a proprietary method for identifying and treating a cancer patient with enhanced sensitivity to PTX-200 through a direct measurement of AKT levels in the patient’s tumour. This patent strengthens Prescient’s focus on personalised medicine, whereby patients are selected based on their tumour blueprint and treated with a specific drug that targets that blueprint.

The patents come five days after Prescient revealed early clinical data arising from its ongoing Phase 1b/2 study of PTX-200 trial in breast, lung and oesophageal cancer. The study is being conducted as an Investigator Sponsored Trial (IST) under Professor Joseph Sparano at Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Cancer Center. Professor Sparano said PTX-200 is a highly promising oncology compound and prior studies had yet to fully exploit its potential anticancer activity.

Fourteen patients with advanced cancer have so far been treated with PTX-200 in combination with weekly paclitaxel chemotherapy in the Phase 1 study, with evidence of antitumour activity noted. Dose escalation of PTX-200 has proceeded to the third and final dose level, and the researchers will soon initiate an expansion cohort in 12 patients at the recommended Phase 2 dose to better characterise the safety profile of the combination.

“One must always be cautious in interpreting data from such small patient numbers; however, we are sufficiently encouraged that we are positioned to move into expansion phase of the study,” said Prescient CEO Dr Rob Crombie. “To this end, we are pleased to advise that one of the world’s largest cancer centres, the Moffitt Cancer Center, will now join the study under the direction of lead investigator Dr Heather Han.”

An additional Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of PTX-200 is underway in patients with recurrent or persistent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer at the Moffitt Cancer Centre. Prescient is also planning a Phase 1b/2 trial evaluating PTX-200 in combination with cytarabine in acute leukaemia, following on from a Phase 1 study which showed stabilisation of disease in 17 of 32 advanced leukaemia patients after a single round of treatment.

Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) shares were trading 14.29% higher at $0.080 as of around 4 pm on Monday.

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