Trial application made for promising melanoma treatment

Patrys Limited announced today that it has applied for approval to start human clinical trials testing its PAT-SM6 natural human antibody product on Australian melanoma patients.

PAT-SM6 has potential applications across several cancers but has been shown to be especially effective at killing melanoma cancer cells and binding to 100 percent of all melanoma patient tumours screened. The molecule also targets GRP78, a protein on the surface of cancer cells found to be linked to the aggressiveness of the disease and shorter survival times.

Commenting on the announcement, Patrys CEO, Dan Devine said that approval to commence clinical trials would mark an important step in the development of novel therapeutic treatments for cancer based on natural human antibodies.

Melanoma is the fastest growing cancer, with the number of incidences worldwide now doubling every 10-20 years. Two in three Australian will be diagnosed with the disease before they are 70, the worst rate in the world.

Once approval is received, Patrys expects that trials will start within the next 30 to 60 days, with first patient data likely to appear by the third quarter of calendar year 2010.

PAT-SM6 would be the company’s second product to reach human clinical trials. PAT-SC1, a natural human antibody evaluated in a gastric cancer human clinical trial, was shown to significantly increase the survival rate of patients.