GenSpera, Inc, a development-stage oncology company, has treated its first patient in the phase II clinical trial of its lead compound, G-202, in patients who have hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

“We have now enrolled a patient with advanced HCC who has not been helped by standard-ofcare therapy with sorafenib,” said Devalingam Mahalingam, MD, Ph.D., an oncologist at the Cancer Therapy & Research Centre at The University of Texas Health Science Centre at San Antonio. “Often, these patients have limited therapeutic options and survival rates are very modest in this setting. It is reassuring to know that G-202 provides another therapeutic possibility for our advanced HCC patients in this phase II clinical study, which follows the safety and therapeutic efficacy we observed in the phase I clinical study. We look forward to enrolling more patients in this study and reporting data later this year.”

“We are excited to begin the HCC trial, which constitutes another milestone in the G-202 clinical development plan,” said Craig Dionne, GenSpera CEO and president. “The scientific rationale for testing G-202 in HCC is very high and we are pleased with how readily the clinical community has embraced its development for this patient population.”

GenSpera’s technology platform combines a powerful, plant-derived cytotoxin (thapsigargin) with a prodrug delivery system that targets release of the drug within the tumour. Unlike typical chemotherapeutic agents, thapsigargin kills cells irrespective of the rate of cell division, which may provide an effective approach to kill both fast- and slow-growing cancers as well as cancer stem cells.