Alchemia enrols first patient for new mCRC trial

Alchemia  (ASX:ACL) has enrolled the first patient for a clinical trial of HA-Irinotecan in combination with cetuximab as a second-line therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

The CHIME trial will seek to enrol around 50 patients at six to 10 sites in Australia. It will run for around 24 months.

The goal of the trial is to demonstrate that HA-Irinotecan is well tolerated as part of the FOLFIRI regimen when used in conjunction with cetuximab (Erbitux).

Alchemia CSO Dr Tracey Brown said the trial “will be the first use of a HyACT drug within an antibody-containing regimen, which is the current and future standard of care for cancer patients”.

HyACT is Alchemia’s drug delivery platform, and HA-Irinotecan is the lead drug from this platform.

HA-Irinetecan is also being used in a phase III trial of the drug in 390 mCRC patients. The data safety monitoring board overseeing the trial has cleared the study to continue on four separate occasions.

Colorectal cancer is the one of the most common cancers in the world, with an estimated 1.2 million new cases diagnosed annually, according to WHO data.

Alchemia (ASX:ACL) shares were trading 2.02% higher at $0.505 as of around 1 pm on Friday.