Date: 2011-06-27
Type of
information: Completion of patient enrollment
phase: 1
Announcement: completion of patient enrollment
Company: Erytech (France)
Product: Ery-asp®/Graspa® (eryaspase - L-asparaginase loaded erythrocytes)
Action
mechanism:
- enzyme. Ery-asp®/Graspa® is a new formulation of L-asparaginase encapsulated inside donor-derived red blood cells through Erytech’s proprietary ERYCAPS technology platform. The enzyme degrades asparagine, an amino acid that is essential for the tumor cells to grow and multiply, which starves and eventually kills the cancer cells.
Disease: pancreatic cancer
Therapeutic
area: Cancer - Oncology
Country:
Trial
details:
Latest
news:
- Erytech Pharma has just completed the enrollment of patients in a Phase I clinical trial with its flagship product for pancreatic cancer, Graspa®. The first results in this study demonstrated that Graspa® was active, with a safety profile that was satisfactory for patients in last-line therapy. On the back of this success, Erytech is expecting to forge ahead with the clinical development of Graspa® for the treatment of pancreatic cancer in “responder” patients.
In order to select responders, Erytech is working with private-sector and academic partners with a view to fine-tuning a predictive test for the efficacy of encapsulated asparaginase. Of note is a research agreement signed with the MD Anderson Cancer Center in the US, which has identified a biomarker for the prediction of L-asparaginase on solid tumors.
Graspa® has been granted orphan drug designation by the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. It has also received this status in Europe and in the USA for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Erytech Pharma’s use of encapsulation technology opens up new cancer treatment possibilities, in which enhanced efficacy and reduced toxicity are key elements in an improved prognosis and quality of life for patients.
Is
general: Yes
