Pharmaxis Anti-Fibrotic LOX Inhibitor Program for Pancreatic Cancer Ready to Commence Phase 1 Clinical Trials

20th Nov 18

Release Date: 20/11/2018 8:30am

Pharmaceutical research company Pharmaxis (ASX: PXS) today announced it has completed the preclinical package on its anti-fibrotic Lysyl Oxidase (LOX) program focused on pancreatic cancer and will this week file an ethics submission to enable progress into a Phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers. The trial is planned to commence in the first quarter of 2019. It is the third program from the Company’s amine oxidase chemistry platform to reach the important stage of entering human clinical trials.

Pharmaxis is the first company to progress a small molecule LOX inhibitor into clinical development. The compound is an oral once-a-day drug that inhibits all lysyl oxidase family members (LOX, LOXL1, 2, 3 & 4). It successfully cleared pre-clinical safety and toxicity studies in the third quarter of 2018 and has shown significant reductions in fibrosis in in-vivo models of kidney fibrosis, lung fibrosis, myelofibrosis and pancreatic cancer. Whereas the Pharmaxis selective LOXL2 inhibitors that are currently completing phase 1 studies are suited to chronic fibrotic conditions such as IPF and NASH, this all-encompassing LOX inhibitor is well positioned for the treatment of severe fibrosis as well as cancer with prominent stroma (connective tissue) or fibrotic metastatic niches. Pharmaxis plans to initially develop the compound for pancreatic cancer.

Pharmaxis is collaborating with Garvan Institute of Medical Research to investigate the therapeutic potential of LOX inhibition in pancreatic cancer.

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