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Biomira announces completion of enrolment in BLP25 Liposome Vaccine phase 2 safety study
Biomira announces completion of enrolment in BLP25 Liposome Vaccine phase 2 safety study.
About this update from Skrr Exploration, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nEDMONTON, Sept. 13 /CNW/ - Biomira Inc. (Nasdaq: BIOM) (TSX: BRA), a\nleading developer of cancer vaccines, today announced that it has completed\nthe enrolment of a 20-patient phase 2, single-arm, multi-centre, open label\nstudy of BLP25 Liposome Vaccine (L-BLP25). The drug is being developed in\ncollaboration with Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany.\nThe phase 2 trial will assess the safety of the formulation of L-BLP25\nthat the Companies plan to use in the upcoming phase 3 study. The phase 3\ntrial design is currently being discussed with the FDA. The formulation\nincorporates manufacturing changes intended to secure the future commercial\nsupply of the vaccine. Initial results from the 20-patient trial involving men\nand women with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from eight clinical trial\nsites in Canada are anticipated before the end of 2005.\n\"The completion of enrolment for this phase 2 safety study is another\nimportant step toward commencing our large, multi-national phase 3 study,\nwhich we expect to begin by the end of this year,\" said Alex McPherson, MD,\nPhD, President and CEO.\n\nAbout Lung Cancer\nIn 2004, approximately 174,000 new cases of lung were diagnosed in the\nU.S. Approximately 160,000 people are estimated to have died of this disease\nin the U.S. alone in 2004. NSCLC accounts for approximately 75 to 80 per cent\nof all primary lung cancers. At the time of diagnosis, only 25 per cent of\npatients are potentially curable by surgery.\n\nThe Companies\nOur key collaboration in developing therapeutic cancer vaccines is with\nMerck KGaA. Merck is a global pharmaceutical and chemical company with sales\nof EUR 5.9 billion in 2004, a history that began in 1668, and a future shaped\nby 28,900 employees in 52 countries. Its success is characterized by\ninnovations from entrepreneurial employees. Merck's operating activities come\nunder the umbrella of Merck KGaA, in which the Merck family holds a \n73 per cent interest and free shareholders own the remaining 27 per cent. The\nformer U.S. subsidiary, Merck & Co., has been completely independent of the\nMerck Group since 1917. Merck KGaA has built a strategic oncology portfolio by\ndeveloping and in-licensing product candidates in four areas - monoclonal\nantibodies, therapeutic vaccines, immunocytokines and angiogenesis inhibitors.\n\nEMD Pharmac...