Bionomics and CTx hit cancer treatment milestone

Bionomics (ASX:BNO) and the Co-operative Research Centre for Cancer Therapeutics (CTx) have reached proof of concept with a project to evaluate VEGFR3 inhibitors as cancer treatment candidates.

The companies said CTx-0357927 - a compound from the program - was able to suppress cancer progression in an animal model of melanoma, as indicated by both tumour growth inhibition and number of metastases.

VEGFR3 (Vascular Growth Factor Receptor 3) activation is linked to the development of lymphatic vessels, which in turn act as a conduit for tumour cells to spread, causing metastasis of cancer. Around 90% of cancer deaths are caused by cancers that have metastasised.

“VEGFR3 inhibitors such as CTx-0357927 have potential in the treatment of melanoma and in breast cancer,” Bionomics CEO Dr Deborah Rathjen said.

The compound could thus complement Bionomics’ own cancer treatment candidate BNC105, a vascular disrupting agent in clinical development against a range of solid tumour types including ovarian cancer.

Bionomics and CTx have been commercial and research partners since 2007.

Bionomics in March raised $16.4 million through a rights issue to help fund its clinical development programs, including BNC105, Alzheimer’s candidate BNC375 and cancer stem cell directed drug candidate BNC101.

Bionomics shares were trading 3.7% lower at $0.39 as of around 2 pm on Friday.