The Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX: SPL) share price has been amongst the best performers on the All Ordinaries index on Wednesday.
In morning trade the dendrimer products developer's shares raced as much as 6% higher to $1.21 following the release of a positive update.
What did Starpharma announce?
This morning Starpharma announced that promising efficacy signals have been observed in its ongoing clinical trials for both DEP cabazitaxel and DEP docetaxel.
DEP cabazitaxel and DEP docetaxel are two of three clinical stage products from Starpharma's DEP platform, alongside DEP irinotecan.
DEP cabazitaxel.
The DEP cabazitaxel product is a patented, detergent free version of the cancer drug, Jevtana, and is currently in a phase 1/2 trial.
According to the release, efficacy signals in the DEP cabazitaxel trial have been seen in "several patients with a variety of tumour types where stable disease of more than 30 weeks, and a decrease in specific tumour biomarkers such as PSA, have been observed."
This includes in prostate cancer for which Jevtana is approved, and also others such as pancreatic and ovarian cancers, which are not currently approved indications for Jevtana.
Another positive was patients that were treated with DEP cabazitaxel exhibited a notable lack of bone marrow toxicity compared to Jevtana. This is great news as greater than 90% of patients experience these potentially life-threatening bone marrow toxicities with Jevtana.
DEP docetaxel.
DEP docetaxel is a patented, detergent-free, enhanced version of the widely used anticancer drug, docetaxel (Taxotere), and is currently in a phase 2 trial.
The release advises that this product is also delivering promising interim results in prostate cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and in tumour types not typically treated with docetaxel.
The DEP docetaxel phase 2 program includes both a monotherapy arm and the use of the product in combination with Nintedanib. Both arms continue to show a notable lack of bone marrow toxicity and other common side effects including hair-loss, anaphylaxis and oedema.
The company's CEO, Dr Jackie Fairley, said: "We are very pleased with these early observations for DEP cabazitaxel, particularly for those patients who have had longstanding stable disease and reduced bone marrow toxicity which often results in significant side-effects (neutropenia, anaemia etc) with Jevtana therapy. In addition, the fact that we are seeing efficacy in a variety of tumours such as prostate, pancreatic and ovarian is extremely promising."
"The growing body of clinical data from our DEP docetaxel and DEP cabazitaxel products demonstrates the compelling advantages for patients and for our commercial partners. The commercial utility of the DEP platform is also evidenced by our partnerships, including with AstraZeneca, and we look forward to them taking their first DEP candidate, AZD0466, into the clinic later this year," added Dr Fairley.
Also on the rise in the industry today are the Opthea Ltd (ASX: OPT) share price following a broker upgrade and the Auscann Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AC8) share price on the back of no news.
