PharmAust has announced it will enter phase three of their trial fortreatment of pet dogs with B cell lymphoma.
This follows the success of phase two in which PharmAust identified the idealcombination of monepantel (MPL, an anthelmintic drug) and prednisolone (asteroid medication) more than doubled the life expectancy of pet dogs comparedwith standard-of-care prednisolone.
During the trial, pet dogs have been administered MPL as gelatin encapsulatedliquid or as a tablet across four doses. Based on this, PharmAust hascalculated an optimum drug plasma range for anticancer activity and minimalside effects.
Kim Agnew, Trial Principal Investigator, said she was pleased with theresults, and they may look to expand the study abroad.
“We have made clear progress in a short timeframe in better understanding themonepantel/B-cell lymphoma dose/response relationship and now have clearerunderstanding of the effective plasma range required for monepantel as a mono-therapy. It is exciting to begin planning an extension of study sites outsideof Australia to explore these findings in more detail. We are activelyinvestigating options for sites in NZ and the US to broaden enrolments.”
Of the seven dogs with drug plasma levels in the optimum range, six achievedstable disease and one had a partial response, with some tumors completelydisappearing, while maintaining minimal or no side effects.
Five of the dogs that achieved stable disease continued to take MPL after thecompletion of the trial with all achieving a migher than expected mean andmedian survival time, at 125 and 138 days, respectively. All owners reported amuch higher quality of life for their pet dogs while taking MPL.
Dr. Richard Mollard, PharmAust’s Chief Scientific Officer, said the trial datawas proving interesting.
“Although this analysis examining the effects of combination with prednisoloneis retrospective in nature, it enables the making of robust hypotheses andprovides justification for their formal testing in Phase 3 studies. Quality oflife may be the most important outcome for pet dogs as we do not know how petdogs balance expectations of their quality of life with expectations ofquantity of life. Extended overall survival time with good quality of life isthe most important outcome for pet owners and veterinarians.”
Tagged: Cancer, PharmAust
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