Antisoma's AS1404: substantial survival benefit over chemo

UK cancer drug developer Antisoma has reported strong final data from a Phase II trial of AS1404 in non-small cell lung cancer, which show very substantial survival benefit. Patients on AS1404, in addition to standard chemotherapy, had a median survival of 14.0 months, compared with 8.8 months in those treated with chemotherapy alone. This 5.2-month difference is one of the largest ever seen in a randomized controlled trial combining a novel agent with first-line chemotherapy for lung cancer.

Across the duration of the trial, patients treated with AS1404 had a 27% lower risk of dying than those receiving chemotherapy alone. Safety data from the trial were also encouraging. The addition of AS1404 to chemotherapy was well tolerated. These findings extend those announced in June and strongly support Antisoma's plans for a phase III trial in lung cancer.

The lung cancer study is one of three Phase II trials of the aptamer drug candidate. Positive prostate specific antigen response data were recently reported from a trial in prostate cancer and encouraging early data have been presented from an ovarian cancer study. Antisoma is currently in talks with a number of companies with a view to licensing the agent.