Oxigene says research indicates CA4P and Oxi4502 with Avastin could be strong solid-tumor fighter

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Nov. 16 - Oxigene, Inc. said that new preclinical data for its vascular disrupting agents, Combretastatin A4P and OXi4503, show that the combination with antiangiogenic drug Avastin could offer a powerful and highly targeted strategy for fighting solid tumors.

The study examined the efficacy of combining the anti-angiogenic agent Avastin with either CA4P or OXi4503 in the treatment of human renal cell carcinoma model. The results showed that treatment with Avastin, CA4P or OXi4503 were effective in causing extensive vasculature damage and tumor cell death in the central regions of solid tumors, according to a company news release.

OXi4503 also was effective at reducing the peripheral rim of tumor cells, which can lead to tumor regrowth. However, the research showed that when CA4P or OXi4503 were administered in combination with Avastin, statistically significant enhanced anti-tumor effects were observed.

Research showed the combination of CA4P plus Avastin led to a growth delay of 13 days while Avastin plus OXi4503 resulted in growth delay of 27 days.

"There is an ever-expanding abundance of preclinical evidence that supports the enhanced anti-tumor effects observed when vascular disrupting agents are combined with other therapies including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and now anti-angiogenic therapy," Oxigene's chief scientific officer and head of research David Chaplin said in the release.

"We are encouraged by the effects observed by this combination therapy targeted not only at new vessel growth, but also in the already established vessel network. We believe that this is a treatment regimen that could have clinical potential," Chaplin said.

The findings were presented Wednesday at the AACR-NCI-EORTC international cancer meeting in Philadelphia.

Waltham, Mass.-based Oxigene is a pharmaceutical company developing novel small-molecule therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases.

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