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The accrual time for the OVArian TUmor REsponse (OVATURE) clinical study, a Phase III study of the investigational chemosensitizing drug, phenoxodiol, has been extended to facilitate complete patient enrollment in the U.S., Europe, and Australia
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA and LONDON and NEW CANAAN, CT, USA | May 9, 2008 | The accrual time for the OVArian TUmor REsponse (OVATURE) clinical study, a Phase III study of the investigational chemosensitizing drug, phenoxodiol, has been extended to facilitate complete patient enrollment in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Increasing the accrual period allowed decreasing the total number of patients in the study, without changing the required statistical analyses. As a result, the OVATURE study will enroll 340 patients at 60 to 80 clinical sites throughout the United States, Europe, and Australia. Initially, this study was announced to enroll 470 patients.
The primary outcome of the OVATURE trial is the assessment of the relative time it takes for the ovarian cancer to progress. The OVATURE trial design has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) program, and provides for an interim analysis of the data, which, if statistically significant, can be used to support a request for accelerated marketing approval. An analysis of interim results will be possible after patient recruitment to this study is completed and 95 patients have disease progression.
Phenoxodiol is being developed by the U.S. oncology company Marshall Edwards, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSHL) as a novel therapeutic in combination with carboplatin for late-stage chemoresistant ovarian cancers, as well as a monotherapy for prostate and cervical cancers. Phenoxodiol is an investigational novel-acting drug that inhibits key pro-survival signaling pathways operating within cancer cells causing selective cancer cell death and increased susceptibility to drugs like platinum and taxane, to which most ovarian cancer patients become resistant in late stage disease.
The OVATURE trial is a major multi-center multinational Phase III clinical trial of orally-administered phenoxodiol in combination with carboplatin in women with advanced ovarian cancer resistant or refractory to platinum-based drugs, to determine its safety and effectiveness when used in combination with carboplatin. The OVATURE trial is recruiting ovarian cancer patients whose cancer initially responded to chemotherapy, but has since become resistant or refractory to traditional platinum treatments. Patients are being recruited at clinical sites across USA, UK, Europe and Australia. Currently, more than 25 sites in the U.S., 20 sites in Europe/UK, and five sites in Australia are participating in this clinical study.
Patients and caregivers who are interested in learning more about the OVATURE trial should visit a website for this study at www.OVATUREtrial.com.
About phenoxodiol
Phenoxodiol is being developed as a chemosensitizing agent in combination with platinum drugs for late stage, chemoresistant ovarian cancer and as a monotherapy for prostate and cervical cancers. It has a unique mechanism of action, binding to cancer cells via a cell membrane oxidase, causing major downstream disturbances in expression of proteins necessary for cancer cell survival and responsible for the development of drug resistance.
In cancer cells, phenoxodiol appears to selectively inhibit the regulator known as S-1-P (sphingosine-1-phosphate) that is overexpressed in cancer cells. In response to phenoxodiol, the S-1-P content in cancer cells is decreased, with a consequent decrease in expression of the pro-survival proteins XIAP and FLIP, rendering those cells more sensitive to chemotherapy. Indeed, in laboratory studies, it has been demonstrated that drug-resistant ovarian cancer cells pre-treated with phenoxodiol were killed with lower doses of chemotherapy drugs.
Importantly, phenoxodiol has been shown not to adversely affect normal cells in animal and laboratory testing.
Phenoxodiol is being investigated as a therapy for late-stage, chemoresistant ovarian, prostate and cervical cancers. Phenoxodiol has received Fast Track status from the FDA to facilitate its development as a therapy for recurrent ovarian and prostate cancers.
Phenoxodiol is an investigational drug and, as such, is not commercially available. Under U.S. law, a new drug cannot be marketed until it has been investigated in clinical trials and approved by FDA as being safe and effective for the intended use.
Phenoxodiol is the first of a family of compounds in the Marshall Edwards, Inc. drug pipeline of flavanoid derivatives.
About Marshall Edwards, Inc.
Marshall Edwards, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSHL) is a specialist oncology company focused on the clinical development of novel anti-cancer therapeutics. These derive from a flavonoid technology platform, which has generated a number of novel compounds characterized by broad ranging activity against a range of cancer cell types with few side effects. The combination of anti-tumor cell activity and low toxicity is believed to be a result of the ability of these compounds to target an enzyme present in the cell membrane of cancer cells, thereby inhibiting the production of pro-survival proteins within the cell. Marshall Edwards, Inc. has licensed rights from Novogen Limited (NASDAQ: NVGN) to bring three oncology drugs -- phenoxodiol, triphendiol and NV-143 -- to market globally. The Company's lead investigational drug, phenoxodiol, is in a Phase III multinational multi-centered clinical trial for patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. More information on the trial can be found at http://www.OVATUREtrial.com.
Marshall Edwards, Inc. is majority owned by Novogen, an Australian biotechnology company that is specializing in the development of therapeutics based on a flavonoid technology platform. Novogen, based in Sydney, Australia, is developing a range of therapeutics across the fields of oncology, cardiovascular disease and inflammatory diseases. More information on phenoxodiol and on the Novogen group of companies can be found at www.marshalledwardsinc.com and www.novogen.com.
SOURCE: Marshall Edwards, Inc.
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