Patrys to start clinical trials on melanoma patients

Melbounre biotech Patrys announced today that the Royal Adelaide Hospital has approved a clinical trial evaluating its PAT-SM6 natural human antibody as a treatment for melanoma.

To date PAT-SM6 has proved to be effective in laboratory and animal testing for the treatment of multiple cancers, and is believed to be specially powerful against melanoma.

The clinical trial will enrol around 10 patients and is the first to target Glucose-Regulated Protein 78 (GRP78) as a treatment for melanoma. GRP78 is over-expressed on the surface of cancer cells and is believed to be closely related to the aggressiveness of the disease. Further, the fact that it is not present on the surface of normal cells bodes well for the safety of the treatment.

“This is exciting on a number of levels. First, PAT-SM6 offers a potentially new treatment for melanoma, where current therapies are largely ineffective,” said Patrys CEO, Dan Devine.

"In addition, this is the first trial of a product produced using Patrys' proprietary manufacturing platform for natural human antibodies – which is groundbreaking and which sets a precedent for advancing other clinical candidates from our pipeline.”

Melanoma is among the deadliest of all cancers with current treatments resulting in a five year survival rate of a mere 16 percent, Patrys said. Australia has among the worst incidences of the disease with some 10,000 news cases diagnosed each year. Globally, incidences of melanoma are doubling every 15 years.