Midatech conducts study on childhood brain cancer drug in USA

Midatech Pharma will conduct a study of an investigational new drug for the treatment of the fatal childhood brain cancer DIPG, the company announced on Tuesday. The American FDA has accepted Midatech’s application to kick off the study for the new drug MTX110.

Midatech Pharma, a pharmaceutical company focused on products in oncology, said in the press release the drug was selected based on both independent and Midatech research that identified the active ingredient as the most potent compound of 83 tested against human DIPG tumour cells. It took a bit more than two years for Midatech to get the compound from initial formulation stage to this clinical trial in 2018.

This disease occurs mainly in young children and has a median survival of nine months. With no treatment currently approved, the approval of this trial could be a big step towards developing a treatment for this cancer.

According to the press release, the study will be conducted in UCSF in San Francisco, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. This study results should be clear by the end of 2019 and, if successful, expedited approval will be sought from international regulators, Midatech said.

Dr. Jim Philips, CEO of Midatech Pharma, said that the company has worked hard to rapidly develop and bring MTX110 through to this clinical trial. “We have seen compelling data for MTX110 in pre-clinical models and we are excited by the potential for this to be evidenced in patients as well. We are looking forward to potentially demonstrating the drug’s efficacy in this disease, and making a difference to the children suffering from this devastating cancer for which palliative options are currently the only choice.  MTX110 is one of our three priority programmes and we look forward to reporting back on progress in due course.”