Glioma is the most common brain malignancy. Standard first-line therapy for glioma includes surgery, radiotherapy and systemic administration of temozolomide. However, temozolomide does not reach the brain in sufficient doses when administered orally and has poor efficiency in more than half of the patients. Strategies to improve the treatment of glial malignancies are therefore needed. We have recently developed a system (Temodex) for local administration of temozolomide by encapsulating the drug in a biologically inert matrix. Here, we assessed the effect of Temodex in combination with standard therapy in a small-scale clinical study. Since the efficacy of temozolomide therapy is known to depend on the methylation status of the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase gene (MGMT) promoter, we also analyzed whether the effect of Temodex was influenced by the methylation status of MGMT. Our data show that the combination of standard therapy and Temodex was more efficient than standard therapy alone, promoting the overall patient survival by up to 33 weeks. Moreover, the efficacy of Temodex was not dependent on the methylation status of MGMT. Local Temodex administration in combination with standard therapy thereby emerges as a novel therapeutic option, with applicability that is independent on the methylation status of the MGMT promoter.

Authors: I KarlssonD VeevnikA FedulovN YurkshtovichT YurkshtovichG PejlerI Lokot

Keywords: glioma, Temodex, temozolomide, MGTM, methylation.

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Double Bond Pharmaceutical International AB (publ)

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556991-6082

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DBP B

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SE0007185525

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DBP is a pharmaceutical company with the primary focus on development of therapies against cancer based on the company’s own developed drug delivery technology BeloGal®. The company was granted Orphan Drug Designation status by European Medicines Agency (EMA) in June 2015 for its first product, SA-033, for treatment of hepatoblastoma. Double Bond Pharmaceutical acquired rights to Temodex, a drug registered in Belarus for treatment of brain tumours, in October 2015, and was granted Orphan Drug Designation status by EMA for in July 2016 for this formulation of temozolomide for the treatment of glioma. The formulation is now being further developed for registration in EU and globally and has a working name SI-053 in DBP pipeline.

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