Viventia's Proxinium gets ODD in Europe

Canada-based Viventia Biotech's lead anticancer drug, Proxinium (VB4-845), has been designated an Orphan Drug for the treatment of head and neck cancer by the European Medicines Agency. This follows Orphan Drug designation in the USA for this indication in January.

"Proxinium has produced positive efficacy results in patients with refractory head & neck cancer and is on track to commence late-stage clinical trials this year," commented Nick Glover, chief executive of the Toronto-headquartered company.

Proxinium, which has successfully completed two Phase I exploratory clinical trials, combines a powerful cytotoxic protein payload, pseudomonas exotoxin, with the highly-precise tumor-targeting characteristics of a monoclonal antibody. The antibody fragment of the product targets an antigen that is highly expressed on many epithelial cancers, ensuring that the payload is delivered directly to the tumor, the firm said.