Lung cancer breakthrough for international collaboration

It is great to see this large survival benefit with AS1404 in lung cancer patients.

Dr Mark McKeage
University of Auckland

By Anna Rooke, OurWorld Editor

Lung cancer kills more people per year than any other cancer and no effective treatment has yet been developed.

However, an experimental lung cancer drug in preliminary trials has extended patients’ life expectancy by more than 50%.

The new drug, AS1404, was discovered by researchers in New Zealand and developed with support from a leading UK cancer charity.

Funding challenge

The New Zealand pharmaceutical company that AS104 was initially licensed to did not have the resources to develop it further.

However, the charity Cancer Research UK stepped in to take the drug into early-stage clinical trials.

The phase two study was then co-led by a New Zealand team and UK biotech company Antisoma.

Significant discovery

The trial found that 70 patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease, lived for five months longer on average.

This is seen as a significant improvement, suggesting a genuine benefit from the drug.

“It is great to see this large survival benefit with AS1404 in lung cancer patients,” said Dr Mark McKeage, from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

The success of the trial means a larger phase three trial can now be undertaken.

Developing cancer treatments in the UK

Earlier this year Cancer Research UK set up an initiative to increase the number of successful cancer treatments.

Clinical Development Partnerships aims to help companies that have potential treatments but do not have the money to develop them.

The drug is put into clinical trials at no cost to the company, while the company is still able to develop and market the drug and retain the intellectual property.