DelMar Pharmaceutics and its collaborators at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will soon present recent data regarding the activity of the chemotherapy agent VAL-083 in ovarian cancer models, according to a recent company announcement.
The results will be included in a poster, titled “Activity of dianhydrogalactitol (VAL-083) in ovarian tumor models, sensitive or resistant to cisplatin,” and presented at the 11th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium to be held Sept. 12–13 at the Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer in Seattle.
VAL-083 is a first-in-class, small-molecule chemotherapeutic, with a novel molecular structure. It has been assessed in 42 Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute in a number of cancers, the company said on its website, and appears to show activity against a range of tumor types, including brain, lung, cervical, and ovarian tumors, as well as certain blood cancers, in clinical and preclinical tests.
In ovarian cancers, particularly, VAL-083 has demonstrated in all tested cell lines both an ability to work in synergy with platinum-based chemotherapy, and to circumvent resistance to platinum-based chemotherapies.
Women with ovarian cancer usually respond well initially to standard-of-care platinum-based chemotherapy, but most ovarian tumors become resistant to such therapies and progress within some 18 months. For these women, prognosis is poor and median survival times range from six to nine months.
New therapies are needed that prolong the remission times for women who respond to platinum-based chemotherapies, and to treat women whose tumors acquired resistance to such therapies. VAL-083 has emerged as a promising agent, and was designated an orphan drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of ovarian cancer. It also received orphan drug designation, a title reserved for potential treatments of rare diseases or conditions, as a therapy for malignant gliomas in Europe and for malignant gliomas and medulloblastomas in the U.S.
VAL-083 is approved in China for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and lung cancer, but has not been approved for any indication outside of China.