Biocancell Therapeutics Ltd. (TASE:BICL) today notified the TASE that the first treatment for advanced ovarian cancer has begun in its Phase I/IIa clinical trial for BC-819. The trial is for patients who fail to respond to current standard treatments.
BioCancell said that the patients who respond well will be offered six more monthly injections.
The trial is slated to include 12 patients altogether. The patients will each receive nine treatments of the drug, once a week.
The clinical trial will be conducted at three medical centers in Israel, including Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, and also at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In addition, the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center in Richmond, which is a National Cancer Institute-designated center, is in the process of obtaining the necessary permits to participate in the trial.
The Office of the Chief Scientist is partly funding the trial. BioCancell has also applied to the US National Institutes of Health for a $1 million grant for the trial.
BioCancell notes that ovarian cancer strikes more than 200,000 women a year worldwide, and it is considered especially lethal. The prevalent treatment is removal of ovaries, followed by chemotherapy.
BioCancell develops personalized targeted therapy that focuses on destroying cancer cells without affected adjacent healthy tissue. The therapy is based on identification of the genes that express in the tumors only, but not healthy cells.
BioCancell's share rose 10.3% at the opening today to NIS 3.41. The share is up 663% so far this year.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 27, 2009
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