Ascend cancer drug shows potential in CBCL

Ascend Biopharmaceuticals’ licensed cancer drug ASN-002 triggered a complete response in more than half of patients with cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (CBCL) during a phase II trial.

A report into the study, involving injection of the drug directly into the lesions of 13 CBCL patients - has been published in the journal PLOS ONE.

It shows that ASN-002 also triggered a partial response - defined as more than half of treated lesions disappearing - in 31% of treated patients. More than 80% of lesions therefore responded to the treatment.

Ascend has entered into an exclusive worldwide licence with French biopharma Transgene to develop the drug as an immunotherapeutic injection for multiple cancers including CBCL.

There are currently no registered drugs for CBCL, with treatment options confined to surgery and radiation therapy. Up to 50% of patients relapse following this initial treatment.

“This study shows that in CBCL, [ASN-002] has a favourable risk/benefit ratio and has potential to be developed as an alternative to surgery or radiation therapy treatment to minimise risk of cancer recurrence,” Ascend CEO Clement Leong commented.

Ascend plans to sponsor clinical trials of ASN-002 in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) later this year. The company aims to recruit at least 18 Australian patients for the trial.