Chemical compound shows promise in treating rheumatoid arthritis

Montana State University researchers and their collaborators have published their findings about a chemical compound that shows potential for treating rheumatoid arthritis.

The paper ran in the June issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (JPET), and one of its illustrations is featured on the cover. JPET
is a leading scientific journal that covers all aspects of pharmacology, a field that investigates the effects of drugs on biological systems and vice versa.

"This journal is one of the top journals that reports new types of therapeutics that are being developed," said Mark Quinn, senior author on the paper and a professor in MSU's Department of Microbiology and Immunology. The department is part of the College of Agriculture and the
College of Letters and Science.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disorder that affects an estimated 1.3 million people in the world, Quinn said. Characterized by stiff, swollen joints, it's a progressive disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own cells. Inflammation in the lining of the joints leads to loss of bone and cartilage. People who have rheumatoid arthritis lose mobility and joint function without adequate treatment.

New kinds of drugs have been developed for treating the disease, Quinn said. Called biological drugs, or "biologics," they are made from genetically engineered proteins or antibodies that act on substances in the immune system. When used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, they interrupt signals that fuel the inflammatory process. Two such drugs are ENBREL and HUMIRA.

Biologics can be expensive, however, and some people don't respond to
them, Quinn said. Some people respond at first, but not forever.

"There is a real need to develop new kinds of drugs that are different," Quinn said. "They could be combined with other available drugs or replace drugs that aren't working for patients."

Researchers in his laboratory and elsewhere identified a new chemical compound, called IQ-1S, in a previous study, Quinn said. Then they conducted a new study to understand how the   small-molecule  compound
works against rheumatoid arthritis. They explained their findings in the JPET paper.  

Ref : http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/353/3/505.abstract?sid=8b8e3977-7bbd-40f4-ab43-f37402878df0

Chemical compound shows promise in treating rheumatoid arthritis: 

Salix Pharmaceuticals receives FDA approval for Xifaxan 550 mg to treat IBS-D in adults

In continuation of my update on xifaxan

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX) (TSX: VRX) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Xifaxan® 550 mg for the treatment of IBS-D in adults. The FDA approval of Xifaxan 550 mg is based on data from three phase 3 studies, TARGET 1, TARGET 2 and TARGET 3. Xifaxan 550 mg was studied in over 3,000 patients and demonstrated the efficacy and safety of repeat treatment following completion of a two-week course of treatment. A full course of Xifaxan 550 mg for IBS-D is available in a convenient 2 week pack of 42 pills.

"As a gastroenterologist who helps patients navigate the symptoms of IBS-D, I see the need for treatments that directly address those most bothersome, such as diarrhea and abdominal pain" said Dr. Mark Pimentel, director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Program and Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. "Today's approval gives a new option to these patients and providers."

Salix Pharmaceuticals receives FDA approval for Xifaxan 550 mg to treat IBS-D in adults

Actavis announces FDA approval of VIBERZI (eluxadoline) for IBS-D treatment

In continuation of my update on VIBERZI (eluxadoline)

Actavis plc,  announced today that VIBERZI™ (eluxadoline) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a twice-daily, oral treatment for adults suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D). VIBERZI (eluxadoline) has mixed opioid receptor activity, it is a mu receptor agonist, a delta receptor antagonist, and a kappa receptor agonist.

"The FDA's approval of VIBERZI is the first step to providing physicians with a new, evidence-based, treatment option for their adult patients with IBS-D," said David Nicholson, Executive Vice President, Actavis Global Brands R&D. "At Actavis, we are dedicated to providing new treatment options, and the development of new agents that help address the most bothersome symptoms of IBS-D. We are very pleased to be working with the FDA to advance this IBS-D treatment and we eagerly await DEA scheduling determination later this year."

Ref : http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/11250029#section=Canonical-SMILES

Actavis announces FDA approval of VIBERZI (eluxadoline) for IBS-D treatment

First-line axitinib ‘feasible’ in advanced, metastatic RCC

We know that, Axitinib (AG013736; trade name Inlyta) is a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor developed by Pfizer. It has been shown to significantly inhibit growth of breast cancer in animal (xenograft) models and has shown partial responses in clinical trials with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and several other tumour types.  It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after showing a modest increase in progression-free survival, though there have been reports of fatal adverse effects...

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Now..

A Japanese single-institution study suggests that axitinib may be a feasible first-line option for patients with locally advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Axitinib treatment resulted in “improved oncological outcomes” and had an “acceptable safety profile”, say the researchers in BMC Urology.

The team reviewed medical records for 18 patients with locally advanced or metastatic RCC who received first-line axitinib for a median duration of 10.8 months, five and nine patients had a partial response and stable disease, respectively, while four progressed.

First-line axitinib ‘feasible’ in advanced, metastatic RCC

Drug combination lengthens lives of metastatic colorectal cancer patients

                         fluoropyrimidine                    TAS-102

 Capecitabine

A drug developed 50 years ago and abandoned because it was considered to be too toxic has gained a second life in an international clinical trial. Research led by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute showed the drug and a potentiating agent lengthened the lives of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, all of whom had exhausted available standard treatments.

In a paper published online today by the New England Journal of Medicine, investigators at Dana-Farber and research centers around the world found that the drug combination - given as a single pill known as TAS-102 - not only extended patients' overall survival, but also delayed the advance of the disease and did so with very few side effects.

According to the study authors, the results are especially impressive because half of the patients had just finished treatment with the standard class of chemotherapy agents - fluoropyrimidines (e.g. 5-fluorouracil [5-FU] or capecitabine [Xeloda]) but had failed to benefit from them. The fact that TAS-102 temporarily halted the disease in many of these patients suggests that it operates through a different biochemical pathway than 5-FU, and therefore may serve as an alternative to standard therapy.

"Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths [after lung cancer] in the United States and is an enormous health problem around the world," said the study's lead author, Robert J. Mayer, MD, faculty vice president for academic affairs, medical oncologist and colorectal cancer researcher at Dana-Farber. "To have a well-tolerated, effective new drug in a cancer that is so prevalent is good news for patients."

The trial, a phase 3 study involving major cancer research institutions in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan, enrolled 800 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer that was progressing despite previous treatment. Participants were randomly assigned to receive TAS-102 or a placebo pill...

More : http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1414325

Drug combination lengthens lives of metastatic colorectal cancer patients

Mifepristone-eribulin combination clinically active in triple-negative breast cancer patients

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated, a pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs that treat severe metabolic, oncologic and psychiatric disorders by modulating the effects of cortisol, today announced results of a multi-center Phase 1/2 dose-escalation study of mifepristone and chemotherapy drug eribulin (Halaven®) 

 Mifepristone (or RU-486)

eribulin (Halaven®)

that show it is well tolerated and clinically active in patients with triple-negative breast cancer. These results were published in the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting Program (abstract e12070), which was released today.

“Triple-negative breast cancers are among the most aggressive and difficult to treat of all the breast cancer types. We are encouraged by the results we have seen using mifepristone to enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy in this patient population,” said Rita Nanda, MD, principal investigator and Associate Director, Breast Medical Oncology, University of Chicago Medicine. “Cancer patients abundantly produce the stress hormone cortisol, which can help tumor cells escape chemotherapy effectiveness when cortisol binds to the cells’ glucocorticoid receptors (GR). Because mifepristone also binds with tumor GR, we are postulating that mifepristone will lessen the cortisol activity in tumor cells and make chemotherapy more effective. Patients with triple-negative breast cancer need better treatments and we are hopeful that mifepristone when combined with chemotherapy, will benefit them.”

Researchers enrolled 13 metastatic breast cancer patients for the first phase of the study to determine the maximum tolerated dose of the mifepristone-eribulin combination. The results showed that the combination regimen was well-tolerated with evidence of clinical activity for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The recommended Phase 1/2 dose of 300 mg of mifepristone daily with 1.1./mg/m2 of eribulin showed no evidence of a drug-drug interaction and will be used in the next phase of the study. An additional 20 patients with GR-positive metastatic TNBC will be enrolled into the study’s efficacy phase.

Mifepristone-eribulin combination clinically active in triple-negative breast cancer patients

Drug combination lengthens lives of metastatic colorectal cancer patients

                         fluoropyrimidine                    TAS-102

 Capecitabine

A drug developed 50 years ago and abandoned because it was considered to be too toxic has gained a second life in an international clinical trial. Research led by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute showed the drug and a potentiating agent lengthened the lives of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, all of whom had exhausted available standard treatments.

In a paper published online today by the New England Journal of Medicine, investigators at Dana-Farber and research centers around the world found that the drug combination - given as a single pill known as TAS-102 - not only extended patients' overall survival, but also delayed the advance of the disease and did so with very few side effects.

According to the study authors, the results are especially impressive because half of the patients had just finished treatment with the standard class of chemotherapy agents - fluoropyrimidines (e.g. 5-fluorouracil [5-FU] or capecitabine [Xeloda]) but had failed to benefit from them. The fact that TAS-102 temporarily halted the disease in many of these patients suggests that it operates through a different biochemical pathway than 5-FU, and therefore may serve as an alternative to standard therapy.

"Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths [after lung cancer] in the United States and is an enormous health problem around the world," said the study's lead author, Robert J. Mayer, MD, faculty vice president for academic affairs, medical oncologist and colorectal cancer researcher at Dana-Farber. "To have a well-tolerated, effective new drug in a cancer that is so prevalent is good news for patients."

The trial, a phase 3 study involving major cancer research institutions in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan, enrolled 800 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer that was progressing despite previous treatment. Participants were randomly assigned to receive TAS-102 or a placebo pill...

More : http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1414325

Drug combination lengthens lives of metastatic colorectal cancer patients

Combination of contraceptive and cholesterol-lowering drugs kills cancer cells in a new way

The combination of a cholesterol-lowering drug, Bezafibrate (first left structure), and a contraceptive steroid, Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (second right), could be an effective, non-toxic treatment for a range of cancers, researchers at the University of Birmingham have found.

   

The findings published in the journal Cancer Research show that the drugs kill cancer cells in a completely new way.

Early stage clinical trials of the drugs in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) have shown promising results, with survival three months longer on average than standard palliative care. The combination, known as BaP, has also been used alongside chemotherapy to successfully treat children with Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), the most common childhood cancer in Eastern Africa.

Until now it was uncertain whether the activity of the drugs against these two very different blood cancers was mediated by a common mechanism or by different effects in each cancer type.

The scientists, who were funded by Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, used state of the art technology to interrogate the drug's effects on the metabolism and chemical make-up of AML and BL cells and found that in both cell types the drugs block an enzyme crucial to the production of fatty acids, which cancer cells need to grow and multiply. They also demonstrated that the ability of BaP treatment to deactivate this enzyme, called stearoyl CoA desaturase, was what prompted cancer cells to die.

Read More at Cancer Research

Combination of contraceptive and cholesterol-lowering drugs kills cancer cells in a new way

Combination therapy provides promising results in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

An early phase study testing an anti-PDL1 agent in combination with standard chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer has provided promising early results, prompting multiple phase III studies in lung cancer. The findings are being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

In this phase 1b study, patients with untreated non-small cell lung cancer received one of three standard platinum-based chemotherapy regimens (paclitaxel/carboplatin, pemetrexed/carboplatin or nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin) with MPDL3280A, an antibody targeting PD-L1. Early results from the 

Paclitaxel Carboplatin Pemetrexed

first 37 patients showed impressive response rates between 60-75 percent, comparing favorably to historical outcomes with chemotherapy alone, where historical response rates from randomized trials are around 30 - 35 percent. In addition, two complete responses already have been documented, with no evidence of lung cancer on CT scans.

"A complete response is not typically seen in patients with stage IV lung cancer," says the abstract's lead author, Stephen V. Liu, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. "And the response rates seen with MPDL3280A and chemotherapy were higher than one would expect with chemotherapy alone."

Combination therapy provides promising results in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

STA, Helsinn announce approval of AKYNZEO for prevention of chemotherapy-induced CINV

In continuation of my update on AKYNZEO®

Australian biopharmaceutical company Specialised Therapeutics Australia (STA) and Helsinn, a Swiss group focused on building quality cancer care, announce that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved AKYNZEO® for the prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of moderately and highly emetogenic cancer chemotherapy.

AKYNZEO® is the first approved fixed dose combination oral agent that targets two critical signalling pathways associated with CINV by combining netupitant, an NK1receptor antagonist, and palonosetron, a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, in a single capsule for the prevention of CINV. 

"Cancer patients are burdened with having to take multiple drugs, often several times per day and certainly multiple times per cycle of chemotherapy, to reduce unwanted side effects. With every increased drug/schedule there is an increased risk of mistakes and/or non-compliance," said Professor Dorothy Keefe, Clinical Ambassador, Transforming Health and Professor of Cancer Medicine, University of Adelaide. "The availability of this combination of drugs, in a single capsule, allows 'once per cycle' dosing (which is even better than once per day dosing) for the benefit of the patient."

The approval of AKYNZEO® was based on the submission of Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials with AKYNZEO® in patients undergoing treatment with moderately and highly emetogenic chemotherapy regimens for a variety of tumour types. The most common adverse reactions reported by ≥ 1% of patients treated with AKYNZEO® for one or more cycles were headache, constipation and fatigue.

STA Chief Executive Officer Mr Carlo Montagner said AKYNZEO® was a valuable addition to STA's Oncology Supportive Care portfolio, providing patients with access to an effective and convenient antiemetic therapy. "We look forward to making this drug available to cancer patients around the country, for improved management of some of the most common side effects of chemotherapy, which can severely diminish a patient's quality of life. STA will now seek to have AKYNZEO® listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for reimbursement."

STA, Helsinn announce approval of AKYNZEO for prevention of chemotherapy-induced CINV