Melbourne, Australia:  Starpharma (ASX:SPL; OTCQX:SPHRY) today announced the results of animal trials which show its dendrimer-enhanced version of docetaxel had significantly superior anti-cancer effects across a range of important cancer types when compared to Taxotere^® (docetaxel).

Breast, prostate, lung and ovarian tumour types were tested.  In each case the company’s dendrimer-docetaxel formulation was seen to significantly outperform the leading drug Taxotere^®.

These in-vivo results are consistent with and expand upon findings from earlier studies announced on 1 February and 29 October 2012, which had focussed solely on breast cancer, and which also showed superior anti-cancer effects for Starpharma’s dendrimer-docetaxel formulation compared to Taxotere^®.  These earlier experiments also demonstrated significant targeting of tumour tissue and extension of half-life with the dendrimer formulation.

Dr Jackie Fairley, CEO Starpharma said: “We are very pleased to see significantly enhanced efficacy of our dendrimer-docetaxel formulation compared to Taxotere^® alone across such a wide range of clinically important tumour types.  If the dendrimer formulation’s superiority to Taxotere^® across these cancers is maintained in the clinic, then it could have very wide application, benefiting many more cancer patients and providing an expanded commercial opportunity for Starpharma.”

Results are shown in Figure 1 below. Across all four tumour types tested the number of surviving tumour cells was significantly reduced.  The dendrimer-docetaxel formulation resulted in a 26-47% reduction in mean tumour cell survival compared to Taxotere^® alone.

Docetaxel is a leading chemotherapy drug used to treat a wide range of tumours including breast, lung, ovarian and prostate.  The original formulation is commercially registered as Taxotere^® and marketed by Sanofi Aventis with sales in excess of US$1 billion in 2011 and more than $3 billion prior to its patent expiry.

Figure 1: Starpharma’s dendrimer-docetaxel formulation showed a significantly superior tumour cell killing effect compared to Taxotere^® (docetaxel) alone over several test cancer types. (N=6 for each bar)

These in-vivo studies were conducted by UK-based Institute of Cancer Therapeutics (ICT) using a technique known as a “hollow fibre inhibition assay” (HFIA) a technique which involves implanting tumour cells into a mouse, then administering an anti-cancer drug to test the drug’s effectiveness.  In the present experiment the tumour cells were exposed to the drugs for five days in the mice.  In order to reflect usual clinical practice, all drugs were administered at their maximum tolerated dose.

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