SYDNEY, March 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Novogen Limited
[ASX:NRT; NASDAQ:NVGN] and its joint venture company with
Yale University, CanTx Inc, today
announced an important milestone with lead candidate drug, Trx-1,
demonstrating a potent anti-cancer effect in mice xenografted with
human ovarian cancer stem cells.
CanTx is seeking a novel approach to the treatment of abdominal
cancers, by developing a product to be administered
intra-peritoneally with the ability to seek out tumor cells and to
eliminate the full hierarchy of cells within tumors. The final
product is envisaged to be Trx-1 in a 'smart' drug delivery
system.
The first key step in that process was confirmation that Trx-1
alone would be effective. The study reported on today provides that
confirmation.
The study was conducted in the laboratories of Gil Mor, M.D., Ph.D, Professor of Obstetrics,
Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Yale
School of Medicine, and involved an animal model for ovarian
cancer considered to be highly representative of the clinical
situation. In this model, ovarian cancer stem cells obtained from a
patient with refractory ovarian cancer are injected
intra-peritoneally, where they grow in a disseminated manner,
forming multiple tumors in locations that resemble those observed
in patients with ovarian cancer.
"Until now, we have not been able to identify a drug from any
company that is effective in this model. So it is very exciting to
observe an anti-tumoral effect with Trx-1," Prof. Mor said.
"But this is just the first step. We needed to establish the
anti-cancer credentials of Trx-1 on its own. The second step that
we hope to report on very soon is the final product of Trx-1 in a
'smart' delivery system, rather than the standard cyclodextrin
carrier used in this study. The advantage of an intra-peritoneal
product is that it delivers drug directly to where it is needed,"
Prof. Mor continued. "And while we are focusing for the moment on
ovarian cancer, there is every reason to believe that the same
strategy will be applicable to other types of tumors contained
within the abdominal cavity, such as pancreatic and colorectal
cancers."
"This represents a key inflection point for the Company and its
super-benzopyran drug technology platform. The usual test of
showing that a drug can stop the growth of standard cancer cell
lines implanted under the skin of athymic mice is an important
STOP: GO step for any experimental anti-cancer drug, but hardly an
ultimate test," said Graham Kelly,
Ph.D., Novogen and CanTx CEO. "Prof. Mor set us an ultimate test by
setting out to replicate as much as possible the clinical
situation. These ovarian cancer stem cells produce tumors
comprising daughter cells that are highly chemo-resistant as well
as being highly aggressive and tumorigenic."
"Trx-1 had shown high potency against human ovarian cancer stem
cells and their daughter cells in vitro, leading us to believe that
it is the first drug to be effective across the full spectrum of
ovarian cancer cells at the same dosage, but this was the evidence
that we needed to progress this drug into the clinic," Dr. Kelly
said.
About Ovarian Cancer
The American Cancer Society
estimates that over 22,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian
cancer during 2013 and 14,230 American women will die from the
disease. It ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, accounting
for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive
system. This cancer mainly develops in older women. About half of
the women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer are 63 years or
older. It is more common in white women that African-American
women.
About Novogen Limited
Novogen is a public,
Australian biotechnology company whose shares trade on both the
Australian Securities Exchange ('NRT') and NASDAQ ('NVGN').
The Company is based in Sydney,
Australia, and with a U.S. office in New Haven, Connecticut. The Company has two
main drug technology platforms known as super-benzopyrans (SBP) and
anti-tropomyosins (ATM). SBP drugs target cancer stem cells and are
being developed for the treatment of ovarian cancer and
glioblastoma. ATM drugs target the cancer cell cytoskeleton and are
being developed for the treatment of melanoma, prostate cancer and
neuroblastoma. Novogen has entered into a joint venture with
Yale University known as CanTx Inc.
with the aim of developing personalized chemotherapy for patients
with ovarian cancer.
Further information is available on the Company's website,
www.novogen.com.
For Further Information Contact:
Investors
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Michelson
Monsoon
Communications
03 9620
3333
rudim@monsoon.com.au
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In the
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Hollister
Hovey/Allison Parks
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Novogen@lazarpartners.com
In
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Pretsell
Instinctif
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In
ROW
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Bacher
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SOURCE Novogen Limited