Ziopharm Oncology says research of ZIO-102 shows it may help to design more specific cancer treatment

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Nov. 18 - Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. said Friday that nonclinical data for ZIO-102, an organic arsenic derivative, indicate that in the tested leukemia cell line, there are dose dependent mechanisms of intra-cellular ROS induction by ZIO-102, which present an opportunity to better design specific therapeutic regimens in cancer treatment.

Intra-cellular ROS production can be initiated by either NADPH oxidate activity or through disruption of hypochondriac's functions, or both, according to a company news release.

This study showed that at low ZIO-102 concentrations, NADPH oxidate is targeted specifically to ROS production detectable at 14 hours of culture, whereas high concentrations of ZIO-102 induce a rapid increase of ROS production that is independent of NADPH oxidate activity, but requires disruption of hypochondriac's functions, officials said.

These findings of dose dependent responses to ZIO-102, as well as to ZIO-101, could help in designing more specific cancer treatment regimens, officials said.

ZIO-102 is a novel organic arsenic molecule currently in nonclinical development. It is part of a "family" of novel organic arsenic compounds licensed to Pharmacies from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Texas A&M University, officials said.

ZIO-101 is the lead product candidate from the same licensing arrangement. It is in phase 1 clinical trials. A phase 1/2 trial and a phase 2 trial for ZIO-101 in advanced diplomacy are in the advanced planning stage and will likely be followed with exploratory phase 2 trials in other cancers, officials said.

The nonclinical data was presented Friday at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Philadelphia.

Ziopharm is a New York City-based biopharmaceutical company seeking to acquire, develop and commercialize a portfolio of in-licensed cancer drugs.

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