Investigational new cancer drug receives approval for a Phase 1 human trial

A new cancer drug created by research teams led by Dr. Tak Mak of The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Dr. Dennis Slamon of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, has received approval from both Health Canada and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States to proceed to a Phase One clinical trial. In the laboratory, the Investigational New Drug (IND), currently identified as CFI-400945, has shown positive results when studied on human breast and ovarian cancers as well as colorectal, glioblastoma, lung, melanoma, pancreatic and prostate cancers in animal models. The Phase One trial, which is being run by PMCC’s world leading Bras Drug Development Program, will involve a total of 30 patients, and will begin early in 2014, and will run over the course of approximately 18 months.

The approval to proceed with CFI-400945 in human trials is a first for a Canadian cancer drug created by an academic institution. The drug has been funded by the Shoppers Drug Mart Weekend To End Women’s Cancers, the Campbell Family, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Genome Canada and The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation at University Health Network raises funds for Personalized Cancer Medicine at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the top 5 cancer research centres in the world, which includes The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute and The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research.
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