CARDIFF, UK – Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of innovative products for the treatment of diseases with unmet medical needs including Type 1 diabetes and rare / orphan brain cancers, announces an R&D update including positive top-line clinical trial results of a recently completed Phase 1 study of MTX110 in patients with diffuse midline glioma, or DMG, and results of a preclinical experiment designed to demonstrate tolimidone’s potential for beta cell proliferation in an in vitro model.
MTX110
In an investigator initiated study conducted by Columbia University Irving Medical Center, patients newly diagnosed with DMG were administered MTX110 via convection enhanced delivery (“CED”) using a subcutaneous pump connected to a catheter directly implanted into the pons in a 3+3 dose-escalating design (NCT 04264143). As this was the first ever study of repeated infusions to the pons via an implanted CED catheter, the primary objective of the study was safety and tolerability and, accordingly, the number of infusions was limited to two, each of 48 hours, 7 days apart. Nine patients were treated in the study (30 M group, n=3; 60 M group, n=4; 90 M group (optimal dose), n=2). One patient in the 60 M group suffered a severe adverse event assessed by the investigators as not related to the study drug but related to the infusion and tumor anatomy. Although the study was not powered to reliably demonstrate efficacy, median overall survival (OS) of patients in the study was 16.5 months. This compares favourably with median survival rate in a cohort of 316 cases of 10.0 months (Jansen et al, 2015. Neuro-Oncology 17(1):160-166).
Study investigators are planning to present detailed results of the trial at the 21st International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (ISPNO 2024) being held on June 28-July 2, 2024 in Philadelphia, PA.
Tolimidone
On the Company’s behalf, a CRO conducted an in vitro experiment designed to demonstrate tolimidone’s potential for beta cell proliferation using reaggregated pancreatic islets. The results of the experiment were inconclusive in that they did not correlate with the results previously seen in in vitro and in vivo studies of tolimidone. The Company believes there are a few possible explanations to the outcome of this in vitro study and accordingly, plans to move ahead rapidly with an in vivo preclinical study with similar objectives while continuing preparations for its planned Phase IIa open-label study of tolimidone in patients with Type 1 diabetes due to start recruitment later this year.
About Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC
Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC (listed on NASDAQ: BDRX) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of innovative products for the treatment of diseases with unmet medical needs. The Company’s lead development programmes include tolimidone, under development as a novel agent for the treatment of type 1 diabetes and MTX110, which is being studied in aggressive rare/orphan brain cancer indications, and
Tolimidone is an orally delivered, potent and selective inhibitor of lyn kinase. Lyn is a member of the Src family of protein tyrosine kinases, which is mainly expressed in hematopoietic cells, in neural tissues, liver, and adipose tissue. Tolimidone demonstrates glycemic control via insulin sensitization in animal models of diabetes and has the potential to become a first in class blood glucose modulating agent.
MTX110 is a solubilised formulation of the histone deacetylase inhibitor, panobinostat. This proprietary formulation enables delivery of the product via convection-enhanced delivery (CED) at chemotherapeutic doses directly to the site of the tumour, by-passing the blood-brain barrier and potentially avoiding systemic toxicity.
Biodexa is supported by three proprietary drug delivery technologies focused on improving the bio-delivery and bio-distribution of medicines. Biodexa’s headquarters and R&D facility are in Cardiff, UK.
Contacts
Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC
Dmitry Zamoryakhin, CSO
Tel: +44 (0)29 20480 180
www.biodexapharma.com
Edison Group (US Investor Relations)
Laine Yonker
Tel: +1 (610) 716 2868
Email: [email protected]