China’s promising pancreatic cancer treatment to start clinical trials after showing ‘superior efficacy’

Innovative drug performs well against current frontline treatments, wins approval to proceed towards human testing
Development of the liposomal anticancer drug is listed as a key research project and is also supported by some Chinese biotech companies

Science

Dannie Peng

Published: 2:00pm, 22 Mar 2024

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An innovative cancer drug that holds out hope of a treatment for one of the deadliest forms of the disease is proceeding to clinical trials in China, following approval from the country’s regulatory authority.

Pancreatic cancer, often called the “king of cancers”, is rarely diagnosed in its early stages, when chances of a cure are at their greatest. The disease, which claimed the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011, has an average five-year survival rate of less than 10 per cent.

The Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica – part of the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences – said at the end of February that its research team, led by Li Yaping, has received a clinical trial approval notice from the National Medical Products Administration.

According to the institute, the treatment is currently being prepared for phase I clinical research, the first step towards testing in humans.

Development of the liposomal treatment, named HLN601, is listed as a key project under the National Natural Science Foundation of China, which funds most basic research, and supported by some Chinese biotech companies.

Chinese scientists develop early screening method for pancreatic cancer

In its announcement of the approval on social media platform WeChat, the institute said the drug “is expected to provide a safe and effective new treatment option for pancreatic cancer patients”.

According to the post, the drug displayed “significantly superior efficacy” in preclinical studies compared to current first-line treatments, and reached a good level of safety in animal tumour models, including mice, rats and beagles.

The institute said that Li and his team had made a technological breakthrough to overcome the poor water solubility of the treatment’s active ingredient which makes it difficult to manufacture.

Using the new process, the scientists developed a formulation which has a milky texture. The liposomal preparation contains the active ingredient inside tiny, fat-like particles which are easier to absorb.

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According to the National Cancer Institute in the US, this form of treatment allows more of the drug to get to the target area of the body. Liposomal drugs may also have fewer side effects.

One of the main reasons pancreatic cancer has such a high mortality rate is that it often causes no symptoms until it has spread to other organs, according to the Mayo Clinic.