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Proacta Inc Announces Phase I Clinical Trial of Novel Prodrug to Target Hypoxic Tumors
24 / 01 / 2006
Alta Partners Tops Off Series A Funding
San Diego, CA, January 24, 2005 - Proacta Inc, an early stage biotechnology company, announced today that cancer patient treatment is underway in its Phase I study of PR-104, a hypoxia targeted small molecule prodrug designed to improve the outcomes of current treatment regimens that can include chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Tumor hypoxia, a condition which exists in the majority of solid tumors, can make treatment with conventional chemotherapy and radiation less likely to succeed. PR-104 is designed to be activated in the low oxygen environment of hypoxic tumors. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that PR-104 is not only activated, resulting in the death of the hypoxic tumor cells, but also distributes to surrounding tumor cells which are also killed. This "bystander effect" may differentiate PR-104 in targeting solid tumor hypoxia and offers the potential promise of improving current cancer treatments. The study is being conducted at the Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, New Zealand and at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. A third, U.S. based, site will be added to the trial in the coming months.
"Proacta is developing a new generation of cancer drugs that target the physiological processes of solid tumors and PR-104 represents our first step in investigating this approach to improving patient results in fighting cancer" said Paul Cossum Ph.D., President and CEO of Proacta Inc. "Our approach specifically uses a prodrug that is designed to be activated only in the hypoxic region of the tumor, thus potentially reducing the chances of unwanted side-effects in normal tissues" he added. "PR-104 has demonstrated significant single-agent anti-tumor activity in a range of preclinical models, as well as adding to the anti-tumor activity of other chemotherapy drugs and of radiotherapy in those models" Cossum said.
Proacta also announced a new infusion of funding from Alta Partners, which joined lead investor GBS Ventures of Australia, Endeavour i-Cap and No8 Ventures of New Zealand, as well as Genentech Inc, and Roche as early investors in the company, bringing the total amount of the Series A funding to $12M. David Mack, Ph.D., Director at Alta Partners, will join Proacta's Board of Directors in connection with the investment. "We are enthusiastic about the potential for PR-104, and believe that Proacta is developing an innovative new therapy that has the potential to address the difficulties in treating solid tumors," said Mack. "More than 65 percent of the 10 million people who are diagnosed with cancer each year have areas of significant hypoxia in their tumors. Proacta is working to give those patients better options and outcomes."
Founded by leading cancer researchers Professors Bill Denny and Bill Wilson of the University of Auckland, and Professors Martin Brown and Amato Giaccia of Stanford University, Proacta has already developed a strong IP portfolio using tumor hypoxia as a target for innovative cancer therapies. The company's current pipeline spans nine chemical classes and over twenty patents. Professor Denny said that "PR-104 represents the culmination of many years of work in our laboratories to develop a hypoxia-targeted compound with both significant preclinical anti-tumor activity and a suitable preclinical safety profile. We are encouraged by this important milestone and look forward to evaluating PR-104's potential in treating patients with cancer".
The Phase I trial will be a dose-escalating safety evaluation in patients with a range of tumor types. In order to ascertain PR-104's impact on tumors the study will utilize PET imaging with Fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG) and also an imaging agent that targets hypoxic areas of tumors. A trial to assess the safety of PR-104 in combination with a standard chemotherapy agent is expected to begin in mid-2006.
About Proacta
Proacta Inc is an early-stage biotechnology company that discovers and develops innovative small molecule pr
San Diego, CA, January 24, 2005 - Proacta Inc, an early stage biotechnology company, announced today that cancer patient treatment is underway in its Phase I study of PR-104, a hypoxia targeted small molecule prodrug designed to improve the outcomes of current treatment regimens that can include chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Tumor hypoxia, a condition which exists in the majority of solid tumors, can make treatment with conventional chemotherapy and radiation less likely to succeed. PR-104 is designed to be activated in the low oxygen environment of hypoxic tumors. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that PR-104 is not only activated, resulting in the death of the hypoxic tumor cells, but also distributes to surrounding tumor cells which are also killed. This "bystander effect" may differentiate PR-104 in targeting solid tumor hypoxia and offers the potential promise of improving current cancer treatments. The study is being conducted at the Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, New Zealand and at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. A third, U.S. based, site will be added to the trial in the coming months.
"Proacta is developing a new generation of cancer drugs that target the physiological processes of solid tumors and PR-104 represents our first step in investigating this approach to improving patient results in fighting cancer" said Paul Cossum Ph.D., President and CEO of Proacta Inc. "Our approach specifically uses a prodrug that is designed to be activated only in the hypoxic region of the tumor, thus potentially reducing the chances of unwanted side-effects in normal tissues" he added. "PR-104 has demonstrated significant single-agent anti-tumor activity in a range of preclinical models, as well as adding to the anti-tumor activity of other chemotherapy drugs and of radiotherapy in those models" Cossum said.
Proacta also announced a new infusion of funding from Alta Partners, which joined lead investor GBS Ventures of Australia, Endeavour i-Cap and No8 Ventures of New Zealand, as well as Genentech Inc, and Roche as early investors in the company, bringing the total amount of the Series A funding to $12M. David Mack, Ph.D., Director at Alta Partners, will join Proacta's Board of Directors in connection with the investment. "We are enthusiastic about the potential for PR-104, and believe that Proacta is developing an innovative new therapy that has the potential to address the difficulties in treating solid tumors," said Mack. "More than 65 percent of the 10 million people who are diagnosed with cancer each year have areas of significant hypoxia in their tumors. Proacta is working to give those patients better options and outcomes."
Founded by leading cancer researchers Professors Bill Denny and Bill Wilson of the University of Auckland, and Professors Martin Brown and Amato Giaccia of Stanford University, Proacta has already developed a strong IP portfolio using tumor hypoxia as a target for innovative cancer therapies. The company's current pipeline spans nine chemical classes and over twenty patents. Professor Denny said that "PR-104 represents the culmination of many years of work in our laboratories to develop a hypoxia-targeted compound with both significant preclinical anti-tumor activity and a suitable preclinical safety profile. We are encouraged by this important milestone and look forward to evaluating PR-104's potential in treating patients with cancer".
The Phase I trial will be a dose-escalating safety evaluation in patients with a range of tumor types. In order to ascertain PR-104's impact on tumors the study will utilize PET imaging with Fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG) and also an imaging agent that targets hypoxic areas of tumors. A trial to assess the safety of PR-104 in combination with a standard chemotherapy agent is expected to begin in mid-2006.
About Proacta
Proacta Inc is an early-stage biotechnology company that discovers and develops innovative small molecule pr