SAN DIEGO, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO), an oncology biotech developing novel oncology and drug-delivery therapies, today announced that its investigational drug, PEGPH20, and a companion diagnostic assay for assessment of hyaluronan (HA) under development by Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. will be included in a groundbreaking pancreatic cancer clinical trial initiative called Precision Promise.
The Precision Promise initiative aims to change the current treatment approach to pancreatic cancer, offering options to patients based on the molecular profile of their tumor. This is being accomplished through the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network leading an unprecedented collaboration that brings together clinicians, researchers, and drug developers. Precision Promise plans to enroll patients at 12 initial consortium sites in Spring 2017.
President and CEO Dr. Helen Torley said: "Halozyme is proud to be participating in this important initiative that has the potential to change how pancreas cancer is treated and improve outcome for patients. I want to recognize The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network for their visionary leadership in bringing the community together. The selection of PEGPH20 and incorporation of HA testing into the trial supports the science and promise of our targeted therapy."
Pancreatic cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer related death in the United States and is anticipated to become the second around 2020. Nationally, only 4 percent of pancreatic cancer patients enroll in clinical trials.
"Precision Promise is an unprecedented opportunity for patients and is vital to move the field forward," said Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. "Instead of looking for the right patient for a clinical trial, we are designing the right clinical trial for each patient."
Halozyme's PEGPH20 is an enzyme that targets and degrades HA in the tumor microenvironment. HA is a glycosaminoglycan – a chain of natural sugars distributed throughout human tissue – that can accumulate in higher concentrations around certain cancer cells, potentially constricting blood vessels and impeding the access of other therapies. Patients with high levels of HA will receive PEGPH20 in combination with other therapies. In preclinical models, this approach has enabled higher concentrations of the therapeutic agent or the body's natural immune cells to reach the targeted tumor.
More information on Halozyme's phase 3 clinical trial of PEGPH20, HALO-301, may be found at www.halo301.com and additional background and vision of Precision Promise may be found at www.pancan.org/precision-promise.
About Halozyme
Halozyme Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing novel oncology therapies that target the tumor microenvironment. Halozyme's lead proprietary program, investigational drug PEGPH20, applies a unique approach to targeting solid tumors, allowing increased access of co-administered cancer drug therapies to the tumor in animal models. PEGPH20 is currently in development for metastatic pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, gastric cancer, metastatic breast cancer and has potential across additional cancers in combination with different types of cancer therapies. In addition to its proprietary product portfolio, Halozyme has established value-driving partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies including Roche, Baxalta, Pfizer, Janssen, AbbVie and Lilly for its ENHANZE™ drug delivery platform. Halozyme is headquartered in San Diego. For more information visit www.halozyme.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
In addition to historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements (including, without limitation, statements concerning the Company's future expectations and plans for growth, future execution of the Company's business strategy, the development and commercialization of product candidates and the potential benefits and attributes of such product candidates, future prospects of the Company's ENHANZE platform and increasing the number of strategic partners) that involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified through use of the words "believe," "enable," "may," "will," "could," "intends," "estimate," "anticipate," "plan," "predict," "probable," "potential," "possible," "should," "continue," and other words of similar meaning. Actual results could differ materially from the expectations contained in forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including unexpected results in executing the Company's business strategy including its efforts to grow the ENHANZE platform, unexpected expenditures and costs, unexpected fluctuations or changes in revenues, including revenues from collaborators, unexpected results or delays in development of product candidates and regulatory review, regulatory approval requirements, the Company's efforts to increase the number of strategic partners not producing expected results, unexpected adverse events and competitive conditions. These and other factors that may result in differences are discussed in greater detail in the Company's most recent Annual and Quarterly Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contacts:
Jim Mazzola/Carla Taub
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Chris Burton
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SOURCE Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.
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