Prostate Cancer Treatment Research To Benefit From Collaboration Between UF Scientists And German Firm
June 23rd, 2008 Posted in prostate cancerUniversity of Florida department of urology officials have signed an agreement to collaborate with the German biopharmaceutical company CureVac to test an experimental therapy for advanced prostate cancer patients who no longer respond to traditional treatment.
CureVac - which specializes in the therapeutic application of messenger RNA, a biomolecule that transfers genetic information from nuclear DNA to cellular protein production machinery - is developing a stabilized mRNA-derived vaccine for treatment of prostate cancer.
UF researchers will conduct a phase 1/2 clinical trial of the therapy in patients from the United States with metastatic prostate cancer who no longer respond to hormone therapy. Both institutions hope the initial collaboration will result in a better biologic product to work with in the second phase of the clinical trial.
The proposed clinical trial is expected to begin in 2009. In the first phase of the trial, researchers will seek to define the optimal dose level of the therapy, as well as establish safety and evaluate improvements needed for the regimen. A European clinical trial is also planned.
One Response to “Prostate Cancer Treatment Research To Benefit From Collaboration Between UF Scientists And German Firm”
By Joann on Jul 23, 2008
The new drug, abiraterone, could be used to treat up to 80 percent of patients with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, which almost always proves fatal.