Prescient Therapeutics Update on Half Year Financials: Positive Clinical Development Continued

Prescient Therapeutics Limited (ASX:PTX) is an Australian based clinical-stage oncology company which is into small molecule drug development focused on new drugs for the treatment of a range of cancers that have become resistant to front line chemotherapy. The Company has a robust clinical pipeline with two drug candidates under clinical development- PTX 100 and PTX 200.

Prescient’s Half Year Financial Update

• During the half year, the consolidated entity has accounted for an estimated research and development incentive rebate amounting to nearly A$599,120;
• Overall operating expenses in the first half remained consistent with the prior year at A$2,334,980;
• Net assets of the company recorded to be approximately A$12,730,902

Noteworthy Clinical Development for PTX-100 and PTX-200

First clinical trial of PTX-100-

During the first half, Prescient achieved a breakthrough by launching the first clinical trial of its unique targeted therapy PTX-100.

The Phase 1b ‘basket’ study for PTX-100 is designed to evaluate the safety, ideal dosage and treatment schedule of the drug for the treatment of several tumors where the Ras and RhoA mutations are prevalent -myeloma, T-cell lymphomas, gastric as well as pancreatic cancers.

At Epworth Health in Melbourne, clinical investigators have commenced the screening for eligible patients led by world-leading oncologist Professor H. Miles Prince AM.

One of the significant developments was the beginning of treatment for the earliest patient in the Phase 1b trial of Prescient’s First-in-Class drug against cancer and inhibitor of Ras pathway, PTX-100. This study was conducted under the guidance of Professor H. Miles Prince AM and aims to determine the safety, optimal dosing as well as treatment schedule of the drug for the management of several tumours where there is a prevalence of Ras and RhoA mutations.

Reported three clinical studies of PTX-200 -

In November 2019, PTX announced an extension of the Phase 1b trial of PTX-200 in patients having relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) followed by a promising third complete response in the patient population that is challenging to treat.

In December 2019, Prescient revealed positive interim data from the PTX-200 Phase 1b safety study in women having persistent or recurrent platinum resistant ovarian cancer. The interim data disclosed that approximately 80% of patients (12 of 15) demonstrated disease control, and 11 patients indicating stable symptoms with one patient experiencing a partial response. Moreover, dose-escalation has not yet been completed, and the Company deems that it has not yet increased to the best possible dose of PTX-200.

Addition to this also in December 2019, Prescient revealed data from the Phase 2a trial of PTX-200 in 11 women having HER-2 negative breast cancer, showing a total response rate of 91%. Two women demonstrated a total eradication of disease and one patient, who passed away before surgery, also attained a complete response after administration of PTX-200 and paclitaxel. So far, nine of ten women being monitored without any symptoms of cancer and have favorable ongoing durability of response.

The consistent clinical developments signify the early clinical proof of concept of PTX-200 as well as the potential of the compound as a novel Akt inhibitor.

Positive Outlook for Clinical Development-

PTX has commenced its trial with PTX-100, a novel Ras pathway (and RhoA) inhibitor gained continued interest across the globe generated by other Ras inhibitors in development.

During this period, Amgen developed a new cancer drug with specific KRAS mutations and gained significant attention at the yearly European Society for Medical Oncology meeting in Barcelona, Spain. Prescient mentioned that the progress of Amgen to the Ras inhibition space is assisting and opening the way for developing companies like Prescient in using various advances to this family of problematic oncogenic mutations.

Addition to this, the Company disclosed that more studies and data is to be released in forthcoming months, and there is keen interest among health care professionals who are inspired by these positive incremental developments.

The clinical programs of Prescient are part of the significant developments being made in precision oncology which continue to change the treatment of multiple malignancies all over the world.

Exciting new frontier for Prescient: Collaboration with Carina Biotech

In November 2019, Prescient announced a collaboration with Carina Biotech to combine its expertise in the development of targeted therapies with the promising CAR-T technology of Carina to develop new CAR-T based treatments.

Carina Biotech is a private Australian cancer research firm having a strong reputation in the advancement of new targeted cancer treatments and is engaged in developing new CAR-T approaches by using its promising CAR-T technology.

Following this partnership, both companies will share any resulting intellectual property (IP). This collaboration facilitates the Company to expand its commitment to personalised cancer treatment into new cellular therapies at the same time also improving the potential and risk profile of clinical pipeline of the Company.

Prescient continued its focus towards the growth with robust clinical stage developments. The Company’s board and management remained centered on delivering clinical milestones and business development activities for establishing considerable long-term value for shareholders.

On 02 March 2020, Prescient's stock was trading at AUD 0.042 with a market capitilisation of AUD 17 million (12:21 PM AEDT). The stock has 394.26 million outstanding shares trading on ASX.

To know more about Prescient Therapeutics Limited, click here.

Disclaimer