LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CytRx Corporation (CYTR), a biopharmaceutical research and development company specializing in oncology, today announced that its oral presentation given by Sant P. Chawla, M.D., F.R.A.C.P., Director of the Sarcoma Oncology Center, titled “Randomized phase 2b trial comparing first-line treatment with aldoxorubicin versus doxorubicin in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcomas,” was featured in The Lancet Oncology in its July 2014 issue (Volume 15, Issue 8) in a review of the major presentations from the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
“We are honored to have been included in The Lancet Oncology’s review of major presentations from ASCO and pleased that these important clinical findings are being recognized by one of the world’s premier oncology journals,” said Steven A. Kriegsman, CytRx President and CEO. “In clinical trials, aldoxorubicin has been shown to be a well-tolerated and efficacious single agent for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) that lacks the cardiotoxicity associated with doxorubicin therapy, the current standard of care. We remain on track to report the full overall survival results from this trial prior to year-end 2014.”
The data presented at ASCO 2014 were updated results from CytRx’s ongoing multicenter, randomized, open-label global Phase 2b clinical trial investigating the efficacy and safety of aldoxorubicin compared with doxorubicin as first-line therapy in subjects with metastatic, locally advanced or unresectable STS. The updated trial results demonstrated that aldoxorubicin significantly increases progression-free survival (PFS), PFS at 6 months, overall response rate (ORR) and tumor shrinkage, compared to doxorubicin, the current standard-of-care, as a first-line treatment in patients with STS. The data trended in favor of aldoxorubicin for all of the major subtypes of STS.
The Lancet Oncology article can be purchased here.
To read the updated Phase 2b clinical trial results in greater detail, CytRx’s previously issued press release can be accessed here.
Aldoxorubicin is currently being studied in a pivotal global Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of aldoxorubicin as a second-line treatment for patients with STS under a Special Protocol Assessment with the FDA. CytRx is also conducting two Phase 2 clinical trials evaluating aldoxorubicin in patients with late-stage glioblastoma (GBM) and HIV-related Kaposi’s sarcoma and expects to start a phase 2b study in patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer this quarter.
About Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS)
STS is an umbrella term for more than 50 subtypes of cancer that occur in the muscles, fat, blood vessels, tendons and other connective tissues in the body. Last year an estimated 38,000 new cases of soft tissue sarcoma were reported and more than 13,000 deaths were attributed to this cancer in the U.S. and Europe. Patients with metastatic, locally advanced or unresectable soft tissue sarcomas have a poor prognosis with progression-free survival of approximately 2 months to 4.6 months and median overall survival of approximately 9 months to 12 months. CytRx has been granted orphan drug designation by the FDA and EMEA for the treatment of patients with soft tissue sarcomas.
About Aldoxorubicin
The widely used chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin is delivered systemically and is highly toxic, which limits its dose to a level below its maximum therapeutic benefit. Doxorubicin also is associated with many side effects, especially the potential for damage to heart muscle at cumulative doses greater than 450 mg/m2. Aldoxorubicin combines doxorubicin with a novel single-molecule linker that binds directly and specifically to circulating albumin, the most plentiful protein in the bloodstream. Protein-hungry tumors concentrate albumin, thus increasing the delivery of the linker molecule with the attached doxorubicin to tumor sites. In the acidic environment of the tumor, but not the neutral environment of healthy tissues, doxorubicin is released. This allows for greater doses (3 ½ to 4 times) of doxorubicin to be administered while reducing its toxic side effects. In studies thus far there has been no evidence of clinically significant effects of aldoxorubicin on heart muscle, even at cumulative doses of drug well in excess of 2,000 mg/m2.
About CytRx Corporation
CytRx Corporation is a biopharmaceutical research and development company specializing in oncology. CytRx currently is focused on the clinical development of aldoxorubicin (formerly known as INNO-206), its improved version of the widely used chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin. CytRx has initiated under a special protocol assessment a pivotal Phase 3 global trial with aldoxorubicin as a therapy for patients with soft tissue sarcomas whose tumors have progressed following treatment with chemotherapy, and recently announced that it has received approval from the FDA to continue dosing patients with aldoxorubicin until disease progression in that clinical trial. CytRx has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial with aldoxorubicin in patients with late-stage glioblastoma (brain cancer), and a Phase 2 clinical trial in HIV-related Kaposi’s sarcoma. CytRx has completed a global Phase 2b clinical trial with aldoxorubicin as a first-line therapy for soft tissue sarcomas, a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial primarily in the same indication, a Phase 1b clinical trial of aldoxorubicin in combination with doxorubicin in patients with advanced solid tumors and a Phase 1b pharmacokinetics clinical trial in patients with metastatic solid tumors. CytRx plans to expand its pipeline of oncology candidates at its laboratory facilities in Freiburg, Germany, based on novel linker technologies that can be utilized with multiple chemotherapeutic agents and may allow for greater concentration of drug at tumor sites. For more information about CytRx Corporation, visit www.cytrx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements, including risks relating to the outcome, timing and results of CytRx's clinical trials, the risk that any future human testing of aldoxorubicin might not produce results similar to those seen in past human or animal testing, risks related to CytRx's ability to manufacture its drug candidates in a timely fashion, cost-effectively or in commercial quantities in compliance with stringent regulatory requirements, risks related to CytRx's need for additional capital or strategic partnerships to fund its ongoing working capital needs and development efforts, including the Phase 3 clinical development of aldoxorubicin, risks related to lawsuits that have been brought against the Company and its officers and/or directors for alleged violations of the securities laws, and the risks and uncertainties described in the most recent annual and quarterly reports filed by CytRx with the Securities and Exchange Commission and current reports filed since the date of CytRx's most recent annual report. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to CytRx on the date the statements are first published. CytRx undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
