We at Crystal are looking forward to an exciting week as we begin releasing new research in our revamped Coverage Library. This morning, we published a business update on innovative biopharmaceutical company, Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PPHM-NASDAQ).
Peregrine is advancing multiple clinical programs in cancer and serious viral infections. The Company’s two first-in-class technology platforms entail phosphatidylserine (PS)-targeting and DNA histone-targeting therapeutics. Its lead product candidates, bavituximab and Cotara®, are in numerous Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. In June 2010, Peregrine reported results at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting demonstrating that bavituximab used in combination with standard chemotherapy regimens in three Phase II trials elicited favorable objective response rates and progression-free survival data across multiple tumor types versus historical controls.
Based on these results, Peregrine initiated two randomized Phase IIb studies of bavituximab with standard chemotherapies in front-line and second-line NSCLC. In January 2011, Peregrine initiated two additional randomized Phase II trials, evaluating bavituximab in combination with gemcitabine in previously untreated stage IV pancreatic cancer and bavituximab in combination with ribavirin in treatment-naive genotype-1 patients infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). For Peregrine’s novel brain cancer therapy Cotara, patient treatment was recently completed in a Phase II trial for recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the deadliest form of brain cancer.
For more details on Peregrine’s business, recent clinical data, and financial position, consult the Quarterly Update published 1/24/2011 available at www.crystalra.com.