AACR Meeting: Agouron's AG3340 And Thymitaq

- A Phase I study with Agouron Pharmaceuticals' oral anticancer agent,AG3340, a nonpeptidic inhibitor of certain matrix metalloproteinases, has demonstrated that the drug is well-tolerated in healthy male volunteers at doses ranging from 10mg to 200mg. The drug was also readily absorbed, resulting in blood levels "substantially greater than those showing efficacy in animal cancer models," it says. The company plans to conduct an additional Phase I trial in cancer patients for extended periods. Meanwhile, Agouron also reported that Thymitaq (AG337), a potent inhibitor of thymidylate synthase, enhanced the effectiveness of radiotherapy by 260% in animal studies. Furthermore, interim data from a Phase I, 13-patient pediatric trial with Thymitaq, demonstrated a 50% reduction of peripheral blast cell count in two patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It is also in Phase II/III head and neck, and liver cancer trials