Strong animal data for Ark's Scavidin

UK-based Ark Therapeutics says that its novel gene-based drug-targeting platform technology, Scavidin, is "highly-effective" in stopping tumor development in two cancer treatment models, using low doses of existing cancer drugs which would be subtherapeutic if administered conventionally.

Scavidin was used to target and concentrate intravenous doses of as little as one-tenth the levels of the commonly-used radioisotope Yttrium90 in one model, and the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel in another, to tumors growing under the skin. The London-headquartered firm says that the results indicate a wide utility for this candidate technology in very large markets.

The company now plans to optimize the dosing regimes and explore efficacy in other cancer models, as well as exploring the full concentration gradient capabilities of Scavidin, and will commence final preclinical toxicity work prior to entering human studies after consulting with the regulators. Further to this, Ark noted that it has already established a transgenic Scavidin colony which thrives and reproduces normally, which suggests that the technology will have a good safety profile.