Hybrigenics receives 1.4M-euro award from OSEO

Hybrigenics, a French biopharmaceutical company with a focus on cancer treatments, has obtained a 1.4 million-euro ($2.0 million) award from France's national agency for industrial innovation to finance the development of inecalcitol.

Hybrigenics' flagship inecalcitol program is being developed for the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer in combination with the gold-standard therapy, Taxotere (docetaxel). The firm says the Phase II trial is advancing rapidly, with the oral dose of 300mg per day revealing an excellent tolerance and the treatment of patients with 600mg doses just beginning.

The OSEO award is a refundable subsidy that will help finance the trials through to their expected completion in mid-2009, as well as the regulatory pharmaceutical requirements necessary for the authorization of therapeutic efficacy studies. This contribution represents 47.3% of the expected total spend necessary to finance the drug to this point.