A new cancer treatment that was developed at the University of Alberta is headed for human trials at three Canadian cancer centers by late 2020, thanks to $5 million in new funding from Edmonton-based investors.
"Taking a new idea into the clinic is a very expensive proposition because it requires regulatory approval and very careful attention to safety and quality of the drug," said John Mackey, an oncology professor, director of clinical trials at the Cross Cancer Institute, and chief medical officer for Pacylex, the U of A spinoff company behind the drug.
"The funding is absolutely essential to develop this new made-in-Alberta approach to cancer treatment," Mackey said.
The trials will test a compound originally developed at the University of Dundee to treat African sleeping sickness and identified as having cancer-fighting properties by U of A cell biology professor Luc Berthiaume, who is a chief scientific officer and co-founder of Pacylex.
"It was one of these eureka moments 10 years ago when we thought of a new way to selectively kill cancer cells while sparing normal cells and discovered the potential applications of this compound in our laboratory," said Berthiaume. "It's great to see that the vision that I had then for a potential treatment for cancer is now coming closer to reality."
The safety of the drug, known as PCLX-001, has been evaluated in pre-clinical models and applications will be made this year to Health Canada to begin Phase 1 trials at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, the B.C. Cancer Centre in Vancouver and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. The Edmonton trials will be undertaken by associate professor of oncology Randeep Sangha. The company will also seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for future trials in patients there. The researchers acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic may slow the clinical trials process due to strains on regulators and the health-care system.
"Assuming that everything goes according to plan, we could have the first patient on trial in the last quarter of 2020," said Mackey.