Update on progress of Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial

RNS Number : 5378B

Immupharma PLC

21 February 2011

 



For Immediate Release

21 February 2011

ImmuPharma plc

Update on progress of Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial with IPP-204106: Cancer patients stabilised with ImmuPharma's Cancer Compound

ImmuPharma plc (LSE:IMM) ("Immupharma" or the "Company" or the "Group"), the specialist discovery and development pharmaceutical company is pleased to announce encouraging results from its ongoing phase I/IIa clinical trial in cancer patients:

Key Highlights:

·     Around half of the cancer patients that have undergone treatment with ImmuPharma's drug candidate IPP-204106 are in stable condition (their disease has stopped progressing) without any other drug treatment.  All the patients that enrolled in the study were suffering from advanced cancer with metastases and had all failed their previous treatments with other existing cancer drugs.

·     The third dose level of IPP-204106 has just begun in the next group of patients.  ImmuPharma's clinical trial began last summer and up to now two lower dose levels have been tested.  The initial dose level of 1 mg/kg did not show any drug-related side effects.  The first patient to be treated in this study is still alive and with stable disease 8 months after starting treatment with ImmuPharma's cancer compound.  The second dose level of 2 mg/kg also did not show any drug-related side effects.

·     ImmuPharma has already begun development of the next generation of IPP-204106, the "micro Nucants".  This improved formulation comprising of small particles of the drug candidate has shown an even more impressive efficacy in cancer models.

The clinical trial is taking place in two hospitals in Paris and one hospital in Dijon, in France and is expected to complete in the coming months.  Further details and analysis will be provided at the end of the study.

ImmuPharma hopes to start a Phase IIb programme later this year in patients with glioblastoma (brain tumour), hormone-resistant prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer.

Dr Robert Zimmer, MD, PhD, ImmuPharma's President and Chief Scientific Officer commented: "It is indeed a pleasure and an honour to see cancer patients benefiting from our new drug candidate in our clinical trial.  Seeing that the first patient that started treatment with IPP-204106 is still alive and in a stable condition after eight months of treatment gives us confidence in our programme.  The improved formulation is a great achievement and further strengthens our position in this field."

Dimitri Dimitriou, MSc, ImmuPharma's Chief Executive Officer added: "Having now two drug candidates with positive results in clinical trials is a milestone for ImmuPharma.  The latest positive results of our cancer drug candidate clinical trial puts our Company in a good position for further major corporate deals such as the one with our partner Cephalon on Lupuzor^TM that is now in a large late-stage clinical trial in the United States.  This also marks the fifth anniversary of ImmuPharma's admission to trading on AIM.  With our strong cash position and pipeline, we are excited to continue our success.

For further information, please contact:

ImmuPharma PLC:

Dr Robert Zimmer, President & Chief Scientific Officer              + 33 389 32 76 50

Dimitri Dimitriou, Chief Executive Officer                                   [phone]

Richard Warr, Chairman                                                            [phone]

Buchanan Communications

Lisa Baderoon, Mark Court, Jessica Fontaine                              [phone]

Panmure, Gordon & Co., NOMAD & Broker

Andrew Burnett, Rakesh Sharma                                               [phone]

Espirito Santo Investment Bank

James Bromhead, Richard Crawley                                            [phone]

 

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