KAZIA MARKS DIPG AWARENESS DAY; NEW PRECLINICAL DATA IN DIPG TO BE PRESENTED AT ISPNO CONFERENCE
SYDNEY, May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kazia Therapeutics Limited (NASDAQ: KZIA; ASX: KZA), a late-stage, oncology-focused drug development company, marks 'DIPG Awareness Day' by recognizing the tireless work of global researchers in this disease, and by calling for an increased focus on childhood brain cancer among policymakers.
Brain tumours represent the second most common group of cancers in children worldwide, after leukemia, but are the most common cause of cancer death. Around 10-15% of childhood brain cancers are diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs), a group that includes diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).
DIPG most commonly affects children between four and eleven years of age. There is currently no FDA-approved therapy for the disease, and median survival is just 9 – 11 months from diagnosis.
Kazia's paxalisib is the subject on an ongoing phase II study in DIPG and DMGs (NCT05009992), sponsored by the Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC). Data from the study is anticipated in CY2023.
New Data to be Presented at ISPNO Conference
The PNOC phase II study has been substantially informed by work undertaken at the Hunter Medical Research Institute in Newcastle, Australia, by Associate Professor Matt Dun and colleagues. Dr Dun is one of the leading researchers in this disease.
Dr Dun will be presenting new preclinical data describing the activity of paxalisib in DIPG at the upcoming 20th International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (ISPNO), which will be held in Hamburg, Germany, from 11 to 12 June 2022. Dr Dun's presentation will specifically cover the combination of paxalisib with ONC201 (Chimerix, Inc).
Dr Dun commented, "Thirty years ago, children diagnosed with leukemia only had a 20-30% chance of survival. Thanks to advances in medicine and a wealth of scientific research, that has now increased to over 90%. This is the paradigm we want to mirror with DIPG and I am pleased to report we are currently seeing some very promising results with our research. We are working tirelessly to progress the human clinical trials with the aim of being able to offer new hope to those families with a DIPG diagnosis."
Upcoming Analyst Presentation
Kazia CEO, Dr James Garner, will participate in an upcoming analyst discussion on childhood brain cancer, led by Dr Naureen Quibria, Senior Biotech Analyst at Maxim Group. The panel discussion will also include Dr Josh Allen, Chief Medical Officer of Chimerix, Inc, and Dr Sabine Mueller, lead investigator on the PNOC phase II study of paxalisib and ONC201 in DIPG.
The webinar is scheduled for 9am, ET, on Thursday 19 May 2022 and interested parties may register to attend the webinar via the following link:-
https://m-vest.com/events/pediatric-brain-cancer-05192022
DIPG Factsheet Launched
To recognize DIPG Awareness Day, and to encourage awareness and discussion of the disease, Kazia Therapeutics has supported the development of a fact sheet, which can be downloaded from the Kazia website using the following link:-
https://www.kaziatherapeutics.com/site/PDF/c4f1dc99-6874-49ea-af10-cfa3a5a8f39b/KaziaDIPGFactSheet
SOURCE Kazia Therapeutics Limited
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