VBL's VB-111 preclinical data against metastatic cancer presented at AACR meeting

Apr 7 2011

VBL Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to the development of novel treatments for immune-inflammatory diseases and cancer, today announced preclinical data demonstrating VB-111's potential utility as a targeted cancer treatment. The company presented two studies, one demonstrating the safety and specificity of VB-111 and the other demonstrating its promise against glioblastoma, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 102^nd Annual Meeting, taking place this week in Orlando, Fla.

VB-111 is the first targeted, dual-action, anti-angiogenic and Vascular Disruptive Agent (VDA) to use VTS^™, the company's proprietary platform technology, for cancer therapy. VB-111 is an IV-administered VDA that works in a manner akin to a "biological knife" to destroy tumor vasculature, thus cutting off the blood vessels feeding the tumor.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to present these data at AACR among our esteemed colleagues," said Yael Cohen, M.D., vice president of clinical development at VBL. "These data demonstrate VB-111's promise as a targeted cancer treatment, which is currently being investigated in Phase 2 clinical studies in thyroid cancer and in glioblastoma. VB-111's unique mechanism of action targets tumors with precision and specificity that does not cause any significant damage to the normal non-cancerous tissue or to the normal vasculatures in the body."

The first study demonstrated that VB-111 was safe and specific and may provide additive effect to chemotherapy. Researchers evaluated the safety and efficacy of VB-111 as monotherapy, in combination with bevacizumab and in combination with carboplatin and pemetrexed in a Lewis Lung metastasis model and found that VB-111 induced a dose-dependent tumor reduction of up to 90 percent.

The second study found that VB-111 has promise as a treatment for glioblastoma. Researchers evaluated the impact of VB-111 on tumor growth in rats with established intracranial xenografts. The results demonstrate decreased tumor size in animals treated with VB-111, with those rats showing a median survival of 48 days, versus 38 days for untreated rats. VBL is currently evaluating VB-111 in a Phase 1/2 trial among patients with glioblastoma.