The Cancer Letter

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Drugs & Targets

Polaris Group’s lead product candidate, ADI-PEG 20 receives US and EU orphan designations

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Polaris Group’s lead product candidate, ADI-PEG 20 (pegylated arginine deiminase), received orphan drug designations for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma in the U.S. and the European Union.

Having completed a successful randomized phase II trial in argininosuccinate synthetase -deficient MPM patients with ADI-PEG 20 as monotherapy, Polaris is currently conducting a phase 1 trial of ADI-PEG 20 in combination with pemetrexed and cisplatin, the approved first-line treatment for MPM, for the treatment of MPM and non-squamous non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Polaris is also conducting clinical trials on ADI-PEG 20 both as monotherapy and in combination with other agents, for the treatment of several other indications including breast cancer, melanomas, ovarian cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma.

ADI-PEG 20 is designed to deplete the external supply of arginine, which causes arginine-dependent cancer cells to die while leaving the patient’s normal cells unharmed.

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