Adventrx' CoFactor performs well in cancer model

San Diego, USA-based Adventrx Pharmaceuticals says preclinical data demonstrates that treatment with combined CoFactor, its developmental folate-based agent, and Uftoral (tegafur/uracil; UFT) brought about greater inhibition of tumor growth and conferred longer median survival times in animal models of colorectal cancer. The findings were presented at the 7th International Conference of the Asian Clinical Oncology Society in the Chinese capital Beijing on September 16.

Adventrx explained that the drug, which is designed to improve the efficacy and safety of the anticancer agent 5-fluorouracil, and combined UFT, showed a greater inhibition of tumor growth then UFT or the control treatment alone. The firm added that the enhanced antitumor activity which the combined regimen had was associated with a statistically-significant longer median survival time (60 days) than either the UFT plus leucovorin-treated cohort (54 days) or the control group (45 days).

The company's chief executive, Evan Levine, said that the results are further evidence of the superiority of CoFactor over leucovorin in optimizing the efficacy of fluropyrimidines.