Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc announced that the ASCO Research Foundation has awarded one of its 2009 Career Development Awards to David Gerber of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for a study of the biologic effects of bavituximab and chemotherapy in patients with advanced lung cancer. Bavituximab is a monoclonal antibody with a unique mechanism that allows the body's own immune system to recognize and act on the tumour and its supporting blood vessels, resulting in anti-cancer effects.

This new study will supplement Peregrine's phase-II clinical trial evaluating bavituximab in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the first cohort of this trial, 11 of 17 evaluable NSCLC patients, or 64.7 per cent, achieved an objective tumour response according to response evaluation criteria in solid tumours (RECIST). Enrolment of an additional 28 NSCLC patients is ongoing.

"We are delighted that the ASCO Research Foundation has selected Dr. Gerber's study for this prestigious award that nicely complements our ongoing phase-II NSCLC trial, which has already shown very promising results," said Steven W King, president and CEO of Peregrine. "This clinical study should help us to better understand the biological effects of this new class of immunotherapeutic agents and generate data that will help guide the future clinical development and use of bavituximab."

Dr Gerber, assistant professor at the Harold C Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center of UT Southwestern, will receive a three-year award totalling $200,000 to support his original research, A Pilot Study of the Biologic Effects of Chemotherapy Plus Bavituximab in Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. These competitive awards are available to promising physician researchers who are full-time faculty members in a clinical setting at an academic medical center.

Bavituximab is also currently being tested in combination with chemotherapy in two phase-II trials in advanced breast cancer. Preliminary positive results from one of these trials were the subject of an oral presentation at the 2009 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Peregrine Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative monoclonal antibodies in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and serious viral infections.