Ziopharm doses first patient in phase 1/2 study of ZIO-101 for myeloma

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Jan. 31 - Ziopharm Oncology Inc. said it has administered the first dose of ZIO-101, a novel and proprietary form of organic arsenic, in a phase 1/2 trial evaluating the drug as a treatment for advanced myeloma.

"I am optimistic about ZIO-101 as a potential new treatment option for our myeloma patients, since much higher doses of this new arsenical can be safely administered compared to other older arsenic-based agent," James Berenson of Berenson Oncology said in a company news release.

"Given that these other arsenic agents have shown anti-myeloma effects clinically at much lower doses, the hope is that this new drug, with its much higher dose, will show greater benefits for patients with this disease."

Ziopharm said that interim data from an ongoing phase 1 trial suggests that ZIO-101 can be given at significantly higher doses, with no significant toxicity, compared to arsenic trioxide, an inorganic arsenic currently approved to treat acute promyelogenous leukemia. Arsenic trioxide has also shown activity in myeloma.

"Patients with myeloma often experience significant treatment side effects and eventually become drug resistant at therapeutic doses," Mohamad Hussein of the Cleveland Clinic Myeloma Research Program said in the release.

"Arsenical compounds, when given at therapeutic doses, may have several mechanisms of action and may also modulate the immune system and control the disease. With this trial we hope to identify the doses associated with ZIO-101 that are most therapeutic for patients with multiple myeloma," Hussein said.

Ziopharm Oncology is a biopharmaceutical company based in New York that develops and commercializes in-licensed cancer drugs to address unmet medical needs.

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