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Aeterna Zentaris Announces Completion of Patient Recruitment for Phase 3 Trial with Perifosine in Refractory Advanced Colorectal Cancer
Jul. 27, 2011 (Canada NewsWire Group) -- QUEBEC CITY, July 27, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - Aeterna Ze...
About this update from Cosciens Biopharma Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n Jul. 27, 2011 (Canada NewsWire Group) -- \n\n#ReleaseContent TABLE\n{\n BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse\n}\nTR.cnwUnderlinedCell TD\n{\n BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid\n}\nTR.cnwDoubleUnderlinedCell TD\n{\n BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 3px double\n}\nTR.cnwBoldUnderlinedCell TD\n{\n BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 3px solid\n}\nTD.cnwUnderlinedCell\n{\n BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid\n}\nTD.cnwDoubleUnderlinedCell\n{\n BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 3px double\n}\nTD.cnwBoldUnderlinedCell\n{\n BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 3px solid\n}\n#ReleaseContent TABLE.cnwBorderedTable TD\n{\n BORDER-RIGHT: black 1px solid;\n PADDING-RIGHT: 2px;\n BORDER-TOP: black 1px solid;\n PADDING-LEFT: 2px;\n PADDING-BOTTOM: 2px;\n BORDER-LEFT: black 1px solid;\n PADDING-TOP: 2px;\n BORDER-BOTTOM: black 1px solid;\n BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse\n}\n#ReleaseContent TABLE TD\n{\n PADDING-RIGHT: 2px;\n PADDING-LEFT: 2px;\n PADDING-BOTTOM: 2px;\n PADDING-TOP: 2px\n}\n\n\nQUEBEC CITY, July 27, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ:\n AEZS) (TSX: AEZ) (the "Company") today announced the completion of\n patient recruitment for the ongoing Phase 3 trial with perifosine in\n refractory advanced colorectal cancer. The trial, involving over 430\n patients, is being conducted pursuant to a Special Protocol Assessment\n (SPA) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and with Fast Track\n Designation. It is sponsored by Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.,\n (Keryx), (NASDAQ: KERX), Aeterna Zentaris' licensee for perifosine in\n North America. Perifosine is a novel, potentially first-in-class, oral\n anticancer drug candidate that inhibits Akt activation in the\n phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway.\n\n\nJuergen Engel, Ph.D., Aeterna Zentaris President and Chief Executive\n Officer, commented, "We wish to congratulate our partner Keryx and\n thank all those involved in reaching this key patient recruitment\n milestone within a 16-month timeframe. We now look forward to the\n completion of this pivotal Phase 3 trial in order to potentially\n provide an additional treatment to refractory advanced colorectal\n cancer patients."\n\n\nPhase 3 Trial Design\n\n\nThe Phase 3 trial, entitled the "X-PECT" (Xeloda® + Perifosine Evaluation in Colorectal cancer Treatment) trial, is a randomized (1:1), double-blind trial comparing the\n efficacy and s...