Vicus Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing breakthrough adjunct therapies for cancer, has initiated a new phase II study with VT-122, its lead product for patients with advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) receiving standard oncolytic therapy. VT-122 is a co-administration of two oral generic drugs: etodolac an NSAID and propranolol, a beta-blocker.

To advance the development of VT-122 and its other pipeline of products, the company is scouting for potential partners in the pharma-biotech industry space including medical institutions. Simultaneously, it is viewing the prospects of raising funds through venture capitalists and private equity players.

Vicus has pipeline of patented first -in class to-cancer adjunct drugs for solid tumour cancer. All our products are combinations of generic drugs and are designed to increase duration of therapy by slowing disease progression or  improving treatment tolerability. All our products have published studies supporting the use of the components and two have human data supporting the use of the combination, Dr Nirupa Bareja, director, India Operations, Vicus Therapeutics told Pharmabiz.

“We offer a license to our patents so that our partners will have the freedom  to operate,” she added.

VT-211, the second of the company’s three products, is a co-administration  of a RAS inhibitor and a pre-conditioning drug for mucositis/GI toxicity for  cancer patients receiving muco/GI toxic therapy for which Vicus has completed a successful pilot study.

The other is VT-435, a topical product that modulates the metabolic activity of skin to improve barrier function and thereby prevent dermatological toxicity associated with the use of many of the newer anti-cancer therapies. In the last 10 years, the cancer market has transitioned to Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) and coupled with entrenched competitors with similar Mechanism Of Action (MOA) has made current product life cycle management option not attractive, stated Dr Bareja.

According to Dr Navaneetha Rao, vice president, R&D, Vicus Therapeutics, from the perspective of product life cycle management, the $40 billion dollar solid tumour market is saturated with brands that have similar modes-of-action and with over half the brands targeting the same cancer pathway.

Product life cycle management requires high value data which has  clinical benefit, enable reimbursement and drive revenue growth. However, in the saturated solid tumour market, the expansion into most cancer indications is blocked by entrenched competitors leaving only small niche indications for expansion. In addition, head-to-head studies against a market leader with similar MOA is risky because it is difficult to show sufficient clinical benefit to displace the market leader, pointed out Dr Rao.

Vicus intends to evaluate high potential re-purposed drug candidates  in studies designed with input from key opinion leaders who also happen to be members of guideline committees. Data from these studies can enable oncologists to access important and much-needed treatment options to cancer patients, stated Dr Rao.