Ecopia Biosciences Inc. has received a No Objection Letter from the Therapeutics Products Directorate of Health Canada for the amendment to the ongoing phase I clinical trial related to the company's anticancer agent, ECO-4601, allowing for the inclusion of pancreatic cancer patients. This selective inclusion of pancreatic cancer patients is consistent with Ecopia's clinical plans to focus on fast track opportunities, including glioma.

Recent supportive evidence shows that ECO-4601 is a potent inhibitor of the RAS-mitogen-activated protein kinase (RAS-MAPK) pathway, which is an important validated target for anticancer therapies. The RAS genes (H-Ras, K-Ras, and N-Ras) are the most frequently mutated oncogenes, occurring in approximately 30 per cent of all human cancers. The K-Ras is the most common mutated gene, with the highest incidence detected in pancreatic cancer (90 per cent).

With our most recent data showing that ECO-4601 is a potent inhibitor of the RAS-MAPK pathway, the next logical step for us was to include pancreatic cancer patients in our ongoing phase I clinical trial, since 90 per cent of this type of cancer is RAS-dependent commented Dr Pierre Falardeau, president and CEO of Ecopia. Focusing selectively on certain cancer types according to the specificity of the target is a way to increase our chances to highlight the efficacy of our lead compound he added.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in North America. The combined estimated number of new cases of pancreatic cancer for Canada and the US in 2006 is approximately 37,000, with 36,000 annual deaths. Among cancer patients of all types, pancreatic cancer patients have the lowest one-year survival rate, which is estimated at 19.6 per cent.