Cougar's IND for abiraterone accepted

Los Angeles, USA-based Cougar Biotechnology, a privately-held company, says that its Investigational New Drug application for its drug CB7630 (abiraterone acetate) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This will allow the firm to conduct a Phase I clinical trial of CB7630, an orally-active inhibitor of the steroidal enzyme 17alpha-hydroxylase/C17,20 lyase, for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer in the USA.

The study will be conducted at the University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, with Charles Ryan, as the principal investigator of the trial.

"Due to the limited number of treatment options for patients that fail first line hormonal therapy, we are very eager to investigate CB7630 (abiraterone acetate) as a potential second line hormonal therapy," said Dr Ryan, adding: "CB7630 represents a novel drug with a unique mechanism of action that could confer clinical benefit to hormone refractory prostate cancer patients."