Exelixis cancer news
Exelixis said it received approval of 12 clinical trials of cancer compound cabozantinib under a November research agreement with the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP). The company now plans to conduct four randomized Phase II trials of cabozantinib in first-line renal cell carcinoma (RCC), second-line hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), platinum-resistant or refractory ovarian cancer and second-line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Exelixis will also conduct non-randomized Phase II trials in ocular melanoma and NSCLC, as well as single-arm Phase II trials in endometrial cancer, bladder cancer and sarcoma, and Phase I combination trials in undisclosed tumor types and pediatric malignancies. The company expects the first trial to begin enrolling patients in late 2012 or early 2013.
In December, Exelixis partnered with CTEP to conduct up to 20 clinical trials per year in multiple cancers to evaluate safety and efficacy of cabozantinib in comparison to other VEGF receptor 2 ( KDR/Flk-1; VEGFR-2) inhibitors, in tumors resistant to VEGF receptor or EGFR inhibition and in tumors metastatic to the bone. Cabozantinib is a spectrum-selective kinase inhibitor of VEGFR-2 and c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase (see BioCentury, Dec. 5, 2011). ...