BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Cerulean cancer news

September 5, 2016 7:00 AM UTC

Cerulean will reduce headcount by 21 (48%) to 23 after lead candidate CRLX101 missed the primary endpoint in a Phase II trial to treat metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in combination with Avastin bevacizumab. CRLX101 is a nanoparticle-drug conjugate with a camptothecin payload that inhibits topoisomerase I (TOP1) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha ( HIF1A; HIF1-alpha). Since CRLX101 was not beneficial in RCC, an HIF1A-overexpressing tumor type, the company said it will not pursue HIF1A as a target and will instead focus on TOP1-sensitive tumors. Cerulean is evaluating CRLX101 in a Phase I/II trial to treat small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in combination with Lynparza olaparib and in a Phase I/II trial to treat ovarian cancer in combination with paclitaxel. ...