Mentioned:
There’s new promising preliminary drug development data for treating breast cancer.
What’s happening:
- Atossa Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ATOS) has released new clinical data from their Phase II trial for (Z)-Endoxifen which demonstrated rapid activity in reducing Ki-67 and functional tumour volume biomarkers
Why it matters:
- Ki-67 cells are a protein that are exclusively found in cancer cells that are dividing, which means that the cancer is likely to spread and grow throughout the body
- The new preliminary analysis from Atossa's clinical trial shows validation that (Z)-Endoxifen has promising potential for reducing Ki-67 cells as well as functional tumour volume biomarkers, which is very challenging to do through existing therapeutics for breast cancer
By the numbers:
- 19 out of the 20 patients involved in the clinical trial were able to receive more than 75% of the planned treatment of (Z)-Endoxifen
- A once a day 10 milligram dose of (Z)-Endoxifen significantly positively impacted biomarkers associated with breast cancer progression, including a 69% reduction in Ki-67 cells and a 30% reduction in functional tumour volume
Going deeper:
- Patients in the clinical trial also tolerated (Z)-Endoxifen very well, with minimal side effects being reported and without the need to discontinue treatment for any of the patients involved
- The new clinical data is also particularly relevant as it is focused on estrogen receptor-positive invasive breast cancer in which patients have tumours that are sensitive to endocrine therapy but are unlikely to benefit from chemotherapy and therefore require novel treatments
The intrigue:
- Atossa Therapeutics has also been closely collaborating with prestigious cancer research charity Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative on validating (Z)-Endoxifen being used in combination with Abemaciclib for highly specific types of breast cancer treatment
