BiPar Sciences Expands Clinical Program for BSI-201, a DNA Repair Inhibitor in Brain Cancer
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BiPar Sciences, Inc. has announced the expansion of the clinical program for the company's lead product candidate, BSI-201, into glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common glioma in adults. BSI-201, the first poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor in BiPar's DNA repair portfolio, crosses the blood-brain barrier, a property that enables its targeted investigation in the brain tumor setting.
This study is being conducted by investigators from the New Approaches to Brain Tumor Therapy (NABTT) consortium, a National Cancer Institute-funded research group. In addition to GBM, BiPar is currently enrolling BSI-201 in a randomized Phase 2 trial for triple-negative breast cancer and is initiating Phase 2 trials in uterine and BRCA-negative ovarian cancers.
"We believe a multi-drug strategy is the best approach to battling GBM. There is a significant need for new treatments that can offer GBM patients and their families additional hope," said Stuart A. Grossman, M.D., professor of oncology, medicine and neurological surgery at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the co-chairperson for this study.
"BSI-201 is a promising agent that has been well tolerated in combination with cytotoxic therapies in patients with solid tumors and potentially addresses a key pathway by which GBM cells resist the effects of existing medications. We are hopeful that BSI-201 will safely potentiate the power of current therapies for GBM and improve survival in this difficult-to-treat cancer," said Jaishri Blakeley, M.D., Assistant Professor of Neurology, Oncology and Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins and the study chairperson for this study.
"The scientific observations that BSI-201 crosses the blood-brain barrier and has a mechanistic basis to synergize with the standard treatment of GBM makes this a promising study," said BiPar Executive Vice President Barry Sherman, M.D. "It is the promise of this approach that encouraged the leaders of NABTT to evaluate BSI-201 in patients with GBM."
