Marshall Edwards continues OVATURE trial

US cancer drugmaker Marshall Edwards presented more details on a Phase III trial investigating the role of its drug phenoxodiol in restoration of chemo-sensitivity in ovarian cancer resistant to platinum drugs, at the Ovarian Cancer International Conference, held in London, UK.

The OVATURE trial is a major multicenter study of orally-administered phenoxodiol plus carboplatin in women with advanced ovarian cancer resistant or refractory to platinum-based drugs, aiming to determine safety and effectiveness. The primary endpoint is the relative time it takes for the disease to progress. An analysis of interim results will be possible after patient recruitment to this study is completed and 95 subjects have disease progression.

Phenoxodiol is being developed by the US oncology company as a novel therapeutic in combination with carboplatin for late-stage chemo-resistant ovarian cancers, as well as a monotherapy for prostate and cervical cancers. The investigational novel-acting drug inhibits key pro-survival signaling pathways operating within cancer cells causing selective cancer cell death and increased susceptibility to drugs like platinum and taxane, to which most ovarian cancer patients become resistant in late-stage disease. The agent was originated by Australian firm Novogen, which majority-owns Marshall Edwards.