Kosan opens Ph II study of alvespimycin

USA-based biotechnology firm Kosan Biosciences has initiated a Phase II trial of alvespimycin, its second-generation Hsp90 inhibitor, in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. The agent has demonstrated the potential to disrupt the activity of multiple oncogenes and cell signaling pathways implicated in tumor growth, including HER2, a key signaling pathway in breast cancer.

The objective of the trial is to evaluate the safety and anticancer activity of alvespimycin as a single agent in patients who have not previously received Roche's Herceptin (trastuzumab) for metastatic disease except in an adjuvant setting. Antitumor data in patients with advanced HER2-positive cancer presented at the September 2007 American Society of Oncology Breast Cancer Symposium demonstrated encouraging antitumor activity of alvespimycin in combination with Herceptin.