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Aeterna Zentaris Announces Interim Data for its Phase 1/2 Trial with AEZS-108 in Prostate Cancer at ESMO Congress - AEZS-108 well tolerated at all dose levels / Early evidence of anti-tumor activity
QUÉBEC CITY, Sept. 23, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS) (TSX:&#x...
About this update from Cosciens Biopharma Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\nQUÉBEC CITY, Sept. 23, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - Aeterna Zentaris Inc.\n (NASDAQ: AEZS) (TSX: AEZ) (the \"Company\"), today announced positive\n interim data for the Phase 1 portion of its ongoing Phase 1/2 study in\n castration and taxane-resistant prostate cancer with its targeted\n cytotoxic luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) analog,\n AEZS-108. The data were presented by Jacek Pinski, M.D, Associate\n Professor of Medicine at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center of the\n University of Southern California, during a poster session on Saturday,\n September 24, 2011, at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO)\n Congress currently being held in Stockholm, Sweden. The trial is being\n supported by a three year grant of about US$1.5 million from the\n National Institutes of Health.\n\n\nDr. Pinski stated, \"Results for the Phase 1 portion of our clinical\n trial exceeded our expectations. In addition to proving to be very\n safe, AEZS-108 also demonstrated impressive efficacy even at low\n doses.\"\n\n\nJuergen Engel, Ph.D., President and CEO of Aeterna Zentaris commented,\n \"We thank Dr. Pinski and his colleagues for the exciting outcome of\n this early study, including the elegant demonstration of drug\n internalization in circulating tumor cells of treated patients. We now\n look forward to the Phase 2 portion of this study which will have more\n emphasis on therapeutic activity. It will also be interesting to see\n the results from the correlative studies to further strengthen the\n rationale of this personalized treatment approach.\"\n\n\nThe Phase 1/2 Study\n\n\nThe poster (abstract # 294) entitled, \"A Phase I/II Trial of AEZS-108 in Castration- and Taxane-Resistant\n Prostate Cancer\", S.V. Liu, A.V. Schally, T. Dorff, S. Groshen, D. Hawes, D. Quinn,\n Y.C. Tai, N.L. Block, J. Engel, and J. Pinski, details the use of\n AEZS-108, the Company's targeted cytotoxic analog in which doxorubicin,\n a well known chemotherapeutic agent is linked to [D-Lys(6)]-LHRH, in\n patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) for which the\n presence of LHRH receptors has been confirmed. This is a single arm\n study with a Phase 1 lead-in to a Phase 2 clinical trial. The primary\n endpoint of the Phase 1 portion is safety. The primary objective of the\n Phase 2 portion is to evaluate the cl...