TopoTarget and CuraGen begin dosing in blood cancer study

Denmark's TopoTarget AS and USA-based CuraGen say they have initiated patient dosing in a Phase I trial of PDX101, their developmental histone deacetylase inhibitor, under assessment as a treatment for blood cancers. Specifically, the drug is being examined, in combination with azacitidine (5-Aza), as a therapy for advanced hematologic malignancies, in a program sponsored by the US National Cancer Institute.

The trial, which is being run as an open-label, dose-escalating assessment, is designed to establish the maximum tolerated dose, as well as examining the drug's safety profile, in relapsed or refractory cases of acute and chronic myelogenous leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.