NovaRx Corporation announced today
that data from the Company's Phase II clinical trial treating individuals
with advanced stages of non-small cell lung cancer ("NSCLC") will be
presented on June 4, 2006, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology
("ASCO") meeting in Atlanta, GA. The Phase II study was designed to
determine the safety and efficacy of Lucanix(TM), a novel therapeutic
treatment under development by NovaRx. In contrast to conventional cancer
therapies, where systemic chemotherapeutic drugs nonspecifically kill the
tumor and normal cells, the therapeutic vaccine developed by NovaRx
specifically induces the patient's immune system to attack the tumor. In
clinical studies to date, the side effects of this treatment have been
minimal compared to the severe side effects associated with traditional
therapies.
Habib Fakhrai, Ph.D., President & CEO of NovaRx and the inventor of the
technology, said "We are pleased that ASCO has provided the company with
the opportunity to present the data from our completed Phase II clinical
trial for individuals with NSCLC."
John Nemunaitis, M.D., Executive Director of the Mary Crowley Medical
Research Center in Dallas, TX and one of the three principal clinical
investigators of the trial, will be the presenter of NovaRx's Lucanix study
results.
The therapeutic vaccine being developed by NovaRx consists of four
non-small cell lung cancer cell lines that were originally derived from
lung cancer patients. These cell lines have been engineered to block
production of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-Beta). TGF-Beta is a
potent agent commonly produced by cancer cells that paralyzes the patients'
immune system, thus preventing an anti-tumor response. Lucanix was shown to
induce immune-mediated antitumor responses in NSCLC cancer patients and to
delay disease progression.
There are 170,000 new cases of lung cancer and 160,000 death caused by
lung cancer in the United States annually. Non-small cell lung cancer is
responsible for approximately 130,000 lung cancer deaths in the U.S. each
year and is the number one cause of cancer death throughout the world.
NovaRx Corporation is a privately held biopharmaceutical company based
in San Diego, California. The company is developing new therapeutic
approaches for treating cancer with its lead indication focused on
non-small cell lung cancer. NovaRx holds the exclusive worldwide license
for this patented technology for the treatment and prevention of numerous
indications, including but not limited to lung, brain, breast, colon,
prostate and melanoma cancers. Patents have been issued in the U.S., Europe
and Japan that protect the Company's intellectual property. Additionally,
the Company is planning to initiate a multi-center pivotal Phase II/III
clinical trial treating individuals with glioblastoma multiforme or
gliosarcoma (brain cancers) in the second half of 2007. The Company is the
recipient of two National Institutes of Health grants. Proceeds from these
grants will partially offset the cost of the planned pivotal Phase II/III
brain cancer trial.
NovaRx Corporation
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