Enzon enrolls first patient in Ph I HIF-1 alpha antagonist study

New Jersey, USA-based Enzon Pharmaceuticals has enrolled the first patient in its Phase I clinical study of the HIF-1 alpha antagonist, EZN-2968. The open-label, non-randomized trial is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of the HIF-1 alpha antagonist in 30 to 40 patients with advanced solid tumors or lymphoma.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) is a key regulator of a large number of genes important in cancer biology, such as angiogenesis, cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell invasion. It is low in normal cells, but reaches high intracellular concentrations in a variety of cancers and is strongly correlated with poor prognosis and resistance to therapy, says Enzon, noting that drugs targeting HIF-1 alpha thus have the potential to target multiple cancer processes.

Enzon licensed the HIF-1 alpha antagonist from Santaris in July 2006 along with the Survivin antagonist and six additional proprietary product candidates created using the Locked Nucleic Acid technology platform, all directed against novel cancer targets selected by the firm.