ProNai intiates testing in humans for cancer drug

For the first time, ProNai is testing its new cancer fighting therapy on humans.

The privately held Kalamazoo-based biopharmaceutical company announced it is giving doses of PNT2258 to human patients.

The first clinical trial in humans of the new therapy is designed to see how people tolerate it, how safe it is and what happens to the drug after it is administered to the body. The test also is intended to help identify proper dosage.

Patients will receive PNT2258 as an intravenous infusion in the arm once a day for five consecutive days in 21-day cycles.

ProNAi’s approach capitalizes on a proprietary and differentiated oligonucleotide platform — a short nucleic acid polymer — that targets nuclear DNA.

PNT2258 is a an intravenously administered anti-cancer agent that fights Bcl-2, a gene that is known to turn nornal cells into tumors and it is found in non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and many other cancers, PNT2258 is comprised of an oligonucleotide encapsulated in a liposome known as SMARTICLES.

PNT2258 represents a unique approach to potentially silence gene expression in patients with advanced cancer.

“We are pleased to move PNT2258 into the clinic and to be able to gain insights into the safety and promise of this novel delivery technology,” says Dr. Wendi Rodrigueza, Vice President of Product Development at ProNAi.

The trial is being conducted at South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics (START) with a team led by Dr. Anthony W. Tolcher, Clinical Director of Research at START.

“Our team at START is an enthusiastic collaborator with ProNAi as they develop this novel class of oligonucleotides for the treatment of cancer,” Dr. Tolcher says.

ProNAi Therapeutics, Inc. is a venture backed biopharmaceutical company founded in 2004 pioneering a new class of targeted drugs based on using single strands of DNA oligonucleotides to target genomes responsible for complex, proliferative diseases such as cancer.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Wendi Rodrigueza, ProNai