Replies to post #119149 on Biotech Values

[mcbio]

Did you see this?



A Phase II clinical trial led by cancer researchers at Ohio State University in the US has demonstrated the positive effects of selumetinib in people with advanced biliary cancer, a malignancy of cells lining the bile ducts and gall bladder.

Selumetinib, also known as AZD6244, belongs to a class of drugs called protein-kinase inhibitors. It blocks a protein called MEK, which cancer cells need to proliferate and survive.

The University of North Carolina, Vanderbilt University and Emory University, all in the US, also participated in the trial, which involved 28-patients, 17 of which showed no tumour growth for up to 16 weeks.

Patients who lacked a target protein called pERK did not respond to the drug, suggesting that the drug may not work if the protein is missing in the cancer cells.

www.drugdevelopment-technology.com/news/news117529.html

Thanks jq. I had not seen that yet. Sounds very promising. ARRY is also testing MEK162 in a Phase 1b in biliary cancer as part of the NVS MEK collaboration.

Do you know how the lack of tumour growth for up to 16 weeks in 17/28 advanced biliary cancer patients stacks up to whatever the current SoC is for these patients? I'd be curious to know this.

Also, looks like this is just single-agent data for selumetinib. It may be interesting to see in the future any greater benefits derived in these patients from a combo of selumetinib plus SoC.