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Phase III development of Antisoma's ASA404 in lung cancer extended to Japan

27 Mar 2009 - Antisoma plc announced that ATTRACT-1, the Novartis phase III trial evaluating ASA404 as a first-line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, is now enrolling patients in Japan. ATTRACT-1 has been enrolling patients in a variety of other countries since it began in April 2008. Extension of the trial to Japan follows the successful completion of a phase I study evaluating the safety of ASA404 in Japanese lung cancer patients.
 
Glyn Edwards, Antisoma's CEO, said "We're pleased that Japanese lung cancer patients can now participate in this key phase III trial of ASA404. This is an important step towards a potential application to market the drug in Japan."
 
ASA404 (DMXAA) is a small-molecule Tumour-Vascular Disrupting Agent (Tumour-VDA) which selectively disrupts tumour blood vessels, generating tumour death (necrosis) due to the resulting lack of blood flow in the tumour. The drug was discovered by Professors Bruce Baguley and William Denny and their teams at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, University of Auckland, New Zealand. It was in-licensed by Antisoma from Cancer Research Ventures Limited (now Cancer Research Technology), the development and commercialisation company of the Cancer Research Campaign (now Cancer Research UK), in August 2001.