Kazia Therapeutics (Previously Novogen Ltd) Partnering with Big Pharma on Undervalued Oncology Assets

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

•  Important milestones reached necessary to launch the phase II clinical trial of GDC-0084 – patient recruitment to begin soon.
• Phase I clinical trial of Cantrixil progressed to plan – results expected in 2018.

Kazia Therapeutics (ASX: KZA, NASDAQ: KZIA) is celebrating FY17 as a year where we successfully spotlighted our business model as a credible partner to big pharma to bring undervalued drugs to market quicker.

Under our partnership model, we’re developing a focused and ultimately self-financing portfolio of oncology assets with demonstrated clinical value having passed the pre-clinical and clinical phase I in human trials.

GDC-0084 under development for the most common form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme.

FY17 saw us reach a number of important milestones necessary to launch the phase II clinical trial of GDC-0084, which we in-licensed from Genentech. GDC-0084 is a novel therapy for glioblastoma, distinguished by its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier where it can inhibit the PI13K pathway, which is a signalling pathway in the body implicated in brain cancer. GDC-0084 is particularly compelling for the two thirds of glioblastoma patients for whom the current standard of care (temozolomide) is ineffective.

In FY17 we finalised the phase II study design with the support of leading oncologists, and obtained valuable feedback from the US Food and Drug Administration. The study is now in the process of starting up, and looks forward to beginning patient recruitment soon.

Cantrixil for recurrent ovarian cancer

Our drug Cantrixil attracted positive media attention as an exciting potential treatment for ovarian cancer patients who are resistant to chemotherapy. The phase I clinical trial in humans underway is being heralded as potentially holding the next major advancement in ovarian cancer therapy.

In FY17, the phase I clinical trial progressed to plan and results are expected in 2018.

We look forward to 2018 with great excitement about development stages for GDC-0084 and the Cantrixil trial outcome. Following our corporate strategy, we also greatly anticipate unearthing further undervalued oncology assets from big pharma.

 

About Kazia Therapeutics

Kazia Therapeutics is an agile, oncology-focused biotechnology company based in Australia. We have two clinical staged drug development candidates and an early stage discovery program, and are developing therapies across a range of oncology indications.

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