Starpharma ‘s Targeted DEP Outperforms Leading Treatments In Ovarian Cancer Model

MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Starpharma (ASX: SPL) (OTCQX: SPHRY) today announced that treatment with its novel antibody-targeted DEP^® conjugate resulted in complete tumour regression and 100% survival in an ovarian cancer model.

Starpharma’s antibody-targeted DEP™ conjugate (using Herceptin as the targeting group) significantly outperformed both Roche’s Kadcyla^® (T-DM1), a Herceptin^® antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), and the monoclonal antibody Herceptin^® (Trastuzumab) itself in the pre-clinical ovarian cancer model. Efficacy performance is illustrated in Graph 1 below.

The targeted DEP™ treated group showed vastly improved anticancer effectiveness and survival compared to both Kadcyla^® and Herceptin^®. The targeted DEP™ treated group exhibited complete regression after treatment which has been maintained for the duration of the experiment (60 days, experiment ongoing). In contrast, in the Kadcyla^® group, only tumour stasis was observed during treatment with a maximum inhibition of 32% at day 12, however soon after completion of dosing tumour regrowth occurred, see Graph 2 below.

Survival statistics for the targeted DEP™ conjugate were also impressive with 100% of the targeted DEP™ treated group surviving at 60 days (study still ongoing), whereas by day 50, none of the Kadcyla^® treated group were alive. Survival results are presented in Graph 3 below.

“We are very excited by these latest results for our targeted DEP™ conjugates and feedback from commercial parties on this new data has been very positive indeed. Discussions are now underway with a number of pharmaceutical companies in relation to this targeted DEP™ conjugate and the application of Starpharma’s targeted DEP™ platform to their proprietary drugs.”

The top 3 antibody based treatments in cancer (Rituxan, Avastin and Herceptin) had total sales in excess of $US20B in 2014. Targeted therapies for cancer such as the ADCs Kadcyla^® and Adcetris^® had combined sales in excess of US$1billion in 2014, with Kadcyla^® sales growing at 144% versus the previous year. The market for ADCs is expected to grow to US$9 billion annually by 2023.¹

Targeted DEP™ Conjugates

Starpharma’s proprietary targeted DEP™ conjugate in this experiment consists of a dendrimer scaffold, a targeting group (in this case the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin^®)) and a “payload” of anticancer drug.

Targeted DEP™ conjugates have a number of important advantages over standard ADCs including higher drug loading and manufacturing advantages, see Graph 4 below.

¹ Roots Analysis, Antibody Drug Conjugates Market, 2014-2024