Spectrum Pharma submits SPI-1620 IND

California, USA-based drugmaker Spectrum Pharmaceuticals says it has filed an Investigational New Drug application for its anticancer drug SPI-1620 with the Food and Drug Administration. The compound, which is being developed as an adjunct to chemotherapy, has been shown to specifically increase blood flow to tumors by over 300%, thereby enhancing the delivery of oncology agents to cancerous cells while effectively limiting the exposure of healthy tissue to such treatments.

The firm's chief scientific officer, Luigi Lenaz, said: "if proven successful in trials, [Spectrum] believes SPI-1620 could have a broad range of applications as an adjunct to chemotherapy in the treatment of solid tumors." He added that Spectrum intends to initiate Phase I studies of the agent as soon the FDA grants approval.