Quest PharmaTech Enrolls 40th Patient in its Phase II Oregovomab
Front-Line Chemo-Immunotherapy Clinical Trial for Ovarian Cancer in
Italy and the U.S.
TSX Venture: QPT
EDMONTON, Jan. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Quest PharmaTech
Inc. (TSX-V: QPT) ("Quest" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical
company developing and commercializing products for the treatment
of cancer, announces that it has achieved 50% accrual having
enrolled the 40th patient in its ongoing 80 patient
Phase II Oregovomab front-line chemo-immunotherapy clinical trial
in Italy and the U.S.
The objective of this study is to confirm that
optimally dosed oregovomab in combination with standard front-line
chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer will generate an improved
immune and clinical response, as seen in preliminary phase II
studies, and permit the best design of a definitive phase III
program to follow. Currently, there are 8 clinical trial centers in
Italy enrolling patients, with
Professor Roberto Angioli at
Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico Di Roma acting as the
study chair. The Company is adding three additional centers in the
U.S., to the two active U.S. sites, through the COGI (Cooperative
Ovarian Cancer Group for Immunotherapy) clinical trials group,
under the leadership of Professor Jonathan
Berek at the Stanford Women's Cancer Center, Stanford
Cancer Institute.
"We are excited to reach the mid-point in
patient enrollment for this pivotal 80 patient clinical trial",
said Madi R. Madiyalakan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer for
Quest. "With 13 centers currently
participating in the trial, we are hopeful that we will achieve
full patient enrollment within this year. This program not
only is evaluating the latest concepts of combination
chemo-immunotherapy for ovarian cancer, but is also providing
critical data to facilitate the pending clinical development of
additional cancer antibody immunotherapeutics within our technology
pipeline."
About Quest PharmaTech Inc.
Quest is a publicly
traded, Alberta-based
biotechnology company committed to the development and
commercialization of oncology product candidates for the treatment
of cancer by combining immunotherapeutic antibodies with
chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy or immunoadjuvants.
Quest's technology
platform includes a series of monoclonal antibodies that target
several cancer markers such as CA125, MUC1, PSA, CA19.9 and TAG72;
and proprietary photosensitizers. Quest
has body of clinical experience and a new appreciation of the
obstacles and potential of combinatorial immunotherapeutic
approaches to cancer. Quest believes
that combinatorial immunotherapy, which exploits the immune
modulating effects of selected cytotoxic agents normally used in
standard chemotherapy regimens along with specific immune
stimulants will lead to important commercial applications of this
immunology platform in the treatment of cancer.
The most advanced of these product candidates is
oregovomab, an anti-CA125 antibody in combination with front-line
chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer which is
currently undergoing a phase II clinical trial in 13 centers in
Italy and the U.S. The Company's
MUC1 antibody program that has already undergone a phase I clinical
trial has the potential to permit tumor specific immunization to a
broad range of additional cancers, including colon, non small cell
lung, breast and pancreas. Quest
is also conducting a phase I clinical trial for the treatment of
prostate cancer, with its photosensitizer, SL052.
About The Cooperative Ovarian Cancer Group
for Immunotherapy (COGI)
The Cooperative Ovarian Cancer Group for
Immunotherapy (COGI), based at Stanford
University, is a consortium of ovarian cancer researchers
from 22 leading academic medical centers throughout the United States and United Kingdom, including Stanford University, Harvard
University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,
University of Pennsylvania, and the
University of Washington. This group
was formed in 2004 to focus on the development of vaccines and
innovative immunotherapies for ovarian cancer. COGI is led by
the group's principal investigator, Dr. Jonathan Berek, Professor
and Chair, Stanford Women's Cancer
Center, Stanford Cancer
Institute.
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SOURCE Quest PharmaTech Inc.