Strong preclinical data on Novacea's AQ4N

Preclinical data presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held in Los Angeles, show that Novacea's investigational anti-cancer prodrug, AQ4N, penetrates the hypoxic or oxygen-starved regions of tumors that are normally difficult to reach with conventional cancer therapies.

Additionally, the study showed that, when used in combination with mitoxantrone, a chemotherapeutic agent, tumor growth delay in rodent breast cancer models was achieved when compared to either agent used alone.

Commenting on the results, Oliver Tredan from the Princess Margaret Hospital at the University of Toronto, Canada, noted that, when AQ4N is combined with mitoxantrone, AQ4N is able to permeate deeply within all tumor tissue and selectively accumulates in hypoxic tumor cells.