PharmaMar Will Start a Phase III Study of PM1183 in Combination With Doxorubicin in Relapsed SCLC

MADRID, January 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

• The unparalleled results obtained in the Phase Ib study support the start of a head-to-head study in relapsed small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients that will compare the combination as second line therapy against topotecan, the only drug approved in the US and Europe for this indication  

Zeltia announces today that its pharmaceutical division PharmaMar will start a Phase III trial with PM1183 in combination with doxorubicin against topotecan in SCLC, given the activity observed in an interim analysis of an ongoing Phase Ib trial. The results of this study will be presented at a prominent international cancer meeting this year, which will be soon announced.

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Patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) after failure of standard chemotherapy, as well as bladder, gastric, breast, endometrial or ovarian cancer, neuroendocrine tumors and soft-tissue sarcomas were treated with the combination in a Phase I. The treatment showed efficacy across all cancer types, including several complete responses. This clinical response was remarkable in certain tumor types, particularly in SCLC, and consequently more patients with this type of tumor were enrolled. The treatment was generally well-tolerated, and these patients had marked objective tumor responses and were able to receive several cycles of treatment.

"The data we have are very exciting as patients with SCLC have the worst prognosis among lung cancer patient. There have been no significant advances in 25 years in this type of lung cancer." says Luis Mora, Managing Director, PharmaMar.

Topotecan, which is the only drug approved in the EU and the US for the treatment of SCLC in second line, achieved objective responses in only 20-25% of the patients (depending on the response to initial treatment)^[1]. Preliminary results presented last year at the 15th world Conference on Lung Cancer showed that 71% of SCLC patients responded to PM1183 plus doxorubicin as second-line therapy. PharmaMar will start a head-to-head study to compare the combination against topotecan for this indication.

About small cell lung cancer 

SCLC is a very aggressive cancer that usually presents with distant metastases and has already spread at the time of diagnosis, thus limiting the role of traditional approaches and posing a worse prognosis compared to other lung cancer types. The 5-year survival rate is less than 5%. About 15% of all the lung cancer cases diagnosed are SCLC^[2], and only in the US more than 34,000 new cases are recorded every year, which are strongly associated with tobacco smoking^[3]. Mechanistically, PM1183 specifically inhibits active transcription, and regulates different components of the tumor microenvironment, such as tumor-associated macrophages.

Disclaimer 

PharmaMar, which is headquartered in Madrid (Spain), is a subsidiary of Zeltia, S.A. (Spanish stock exchange: ZEL), which has been listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange since 1963 and on Spain's Electronic Market since 1998. This document is a press release, not a prospectus. This document does not constitute or form part of an offering or invitation to sell or a solicitation to purchase, offer or subscribe shares of the company. Moreover, no reliance should be placed upon this document for any investment decision or contract and it does not constitute a recommendation of any type with regard to the shares of the company.

PharmaMar Media Relations:
Carolina Pola
Phone: +34-91-846-6108
Mobile: +34-608-93-36-77

Zeltia Investor Relations:
Phone: +34-914444500

Or please visit our website at http://www.pharmamar.com and http://www.zeltia.com

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^[1]http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/17/2/658.long

^[2] General information about Small Cell Lung Cancer. Available at: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/small-cell-lung/healthprofessional

^[3]http://www.jnccn.org/content/11/1/78.full.pdf

SOURCE PharmaMar, SA