Protherics begins recruitment in Oncogel trial

UK-based biopharmaceutical company Protherics says that it has enrolled the first patient in a trial investigating the use of its product Oncogel, a formulation of paclitaxel for local administration, as an adjuvant to tumor removal in patients with recurrent glioblastoma mutliforme. The firm said that GBM affects between 18,000 and 20,000 patients in Europe and the USA, with 90% experiencing recurrence following surgery and radiation therapy.

Oncogel is a localized therapy designed to deliver a high dose of paclitaxel directly to the site of the tumor, as part of a six-month therapeutic regimen. The firm added that GBM tumors are a suitable treatment target as they are sensitive to paclitaxel and do not metastasize to other sites in the body.

The current study will seek to enroll 36 GBM suffers who have recurrent tumors, and is designed to examine the product's impact on neurological performance and any other adverse events that arise. Results are expected at the end of 2008.