Promising progress in Vivolux’ VLX600 Study
Vivolux, a pharmaceutical company specialized in cancer treatment, announced today that the first dose level of the ongoing VLX600 study has successfully been accomplished in its phase I/II-study.
VLX600 is one of the company's promising projects, which was recently published in the journal Nature Communications. Researchers at Vivolux have discovered a novel cancer drug target. The drug candidate kills sleeping cell populations in regions of solid tumors that are metabolically compromised due to poor vascularization – areas that cannot be reached by conventional cancer therapeutics.
VLX600 is designed to increase the efficacy of radiotherapy and to kill cancer cells that survive traditional chemotherapy. The study is being conducted in collaboration with Mayo Clinic Cancer Centers in patients with solid tumors who no longer respond to conventional cancer treatment. The aim is to determine the optimal dose for the current and future clinical studies. VLX600 is designed to increase the efficacy of radiotherapy and to kill cancer cells that survive traditional chemotherapy.
In solid tumors, there are areas with poor vascular supply where cancer cells divide more slowly due to a lack of oxygen and nutrients. Cancer cells in these areas enter a sleeping state. The 'sleeping cells' start proliferating between therapy cycles after treatment with radiotherapy or conventional chemotherapy, resulting in regrowth of tumors. Such regrowth between therapy cycles is a major clinical problem. Vivolux’ drug candidate, VLX600, kills ‘sleeping cancer cells’ by strangling the power supply in the cells’ power plants – the mitochondria.
Hans Rosén, CEO and founder, stated. “It's great that after many years of research, we have the privilege to treat patients. The fact that this research has attracted interest at leading cancer centers in the USA is solid recognition to the quality of our scientists and their work. There is a significant medical need for new cancer drugs and VLX600 provides the ability to treat cancer patients in a new way.”
Joachim Gullbo, MD, PhD, and Chief Medical Officer at Vivolux, said: "VLX600 is the first candidate in a novel class of cancer drugs. We are very excited about the opportunity to take it from bench to bedside".
Vivolux was founded in Sweden in 2004. The Swedish office is located at the AZ BioVentureHub in Gothenburg. In 2014, the Vivolux head office was established in Ashburn, Virginia, USA. Vivolux focuses on the development of novel cancer drugs based on phenotypic models, where the unique behavior of malignant cells under specific conditions is utilized to identify new targets and molecules acting on these targets. Working in close collaboration with research groups at Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute, Vivolux has developed a unique and comprehensive system for preclinical analysis of cancer drugs, including tests on primary cultures of human cancer cells, cells grown in three-dimensional aggregates and methods for molecular investigation of mechanism of action. Several drug candidates have been identified and optimized and the results from these investigations have been published in international scientific journals. Two novel drugs with new mechanisms of action for cancer treatment are currently in clinical investigation in collaboration with leading cancer centers in the USA.
For further information, please contact:
Hans Rosén, CEO, hans.rosen@vivolux.com, phone: +1 202 400 1470
Stig Linder, stig.linder@ki.se, Professor of Experimental Oncology, Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institute, phone: +46 (0)704 841275
Vivolux Inc: 20130 Lakeview Center Plaza, Suite 400, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
Phone: +1 703-840-5474
Vivolux AB: AZ BioVentureHub SE-431 83 Mölndal, Sweden.