Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (TASE:CFBI) reports that it has developed a test that “substantially increases the chances of success of clinical trials of the company’s pharmaceuticals.”
Can-Fite has completed development of a blood test to determine the target receptor level in candidate patients for the company’s drug therapies. The company has applied for a patent for the test.
The technology platform is based on pharmaceuticals related to the Adenosine A3 receptor, which is the target of the company’s drugs, and which is found in large quantities in inflamed and cancerous cells, in contrast to the low level in healthy cells. The blood test uses a miniscule quantity of blood, which can be taken at any hospital in the world, and measures the quantity of the Adenosine A3 receptor in the sample. Can-Fite’s scientists found that level of the receptor in the blood reflects its level in the patient’s inflamed or cancerous cells.
Earlier clinical trials for the drug CF-101 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis found that patients with high levels of the Adenosine A3 receptor responded well to treatment. The results indicate that the blood test enables Can-Fite to predict a patient’s response to treatment in advance. The company therefore believes that the test greatly increases the chances of success of clinical trials of the company’s drugs.
Can-Fite adds that the blood test can enable the company to check the target findings during advanced international clinical trials, thereby ratifying the test as a predictor of a patient’s response to treatment. If the trials are successful, the company will consider licensing the blood test, which will serve doctors before they administer drugs in line with the personalized medicine approach in which a patient’s response to a drug is tested before it is administered.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on September 24, 2007
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