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Aeterna Zentaris Partner, Yakult Honsha, Initiates Phase 1/2 Trial with Perifosine in Colorectal Cancer in Japan
Trial initiation to trigger milestone payment to Aeterna Zentaris QUÉBEC CITY, Jan...
About this update from Cosciens Biopharma Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\nTrial initiation to trigger milestone payment to Aeterna Zentaris\n\n\nQUÉBEC CITY, Jan. 3, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ:\n AEZS) (TSX: AEZ) (the \"Company\") today announced that its Japanese\n partner, Yakult Honsha (\"Yakult\"), has initiated a Phase 1/2 trial in\n Japan to assess the safety and efficacy of the Company's PI3K/Akt\n inhibitor, perifosine, in combination with chemotherapeutic agent,\n capecitabine, in patients with refractory advanced colorectal cancer\n (\"CRC\"). The initiation of this trial will trigger a milestone payment\n of an undisclosed amount from Yakult to Aeterna Zentaris under the\n partnership agreement signed with Yakult in March 2011 for perifosine\n in Japan.\n\n\nJuergen Engel, PhD, President and CEO of Aeterna Zentaris stated, \"We\n would like to thank our partner Yakult for the swift initiation of this\n trial in Japan, a first in the clinical development of perifosine in\n Japan. The trial is also part of our worldwide clinical development and\n registration strategy for perifosine in colorectal cancer, as we await\n the completion of the Phase 3 trial in this indication in the United\n States during the first quarter of 2012.\"\n\n\nThe Phase 1/2 Trial in CRC\n\n\nThe Phase 1/2 trial is being conducted in patients with refractory\n advanced CRC. The primary endpoint of the Phase 1 portion of the trial\n is the safety profile of perifosine in combination with capecitabine.\n The primary endpoint of the Phase 2 portion is efficacy (Disease\n Control Rate).\n\n\nAbout Perifosine\n\n\nPerifosine is a novel, oral anticancer treatment that inhibits Akt\n activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. The product\n works by interfering with membranes of cancer cells thereby inhibiting\n Akt signaling which then affects cell death, growth, differentiation\n and survival. Perifosine, in combination with chemotherapeutic agents,\n is currently being studied for the treatment of colorectal cancer,\n multiple myeloma and other cancers, and is the most advanced anticancer\n agent of its class. Perifosine, as monotherapy, is being explored in\n other indications. The FDA has granted perifosine orphan-drug\n designation in multiple myeloma and neuroblastoma, and Fast Track\n designations in both multiple myeloma and refractory advanced\n colorectal...