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Should be interesting to see who the new CEO will be. Gla ;-)
MANAGEMENT
It is a reflection of the very significant potential of Evgen Pharma’s technology that the company has been able to attract a high calibre commercial, scientific and advisory team.
SALLY ROSS, CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Sally has over 18 years of experience working across pre-clinical and clinical settings in academia, pharma and CROs. Â Sally held many different roles at AstraZeneca, starting off as a translational Scientist working on Iressa and then moved into more clinical roles as a Global Project/Programme Manager in the Oncology and Infection Therapeutic Areas, and subsequently as a Principal Medical Scientist in both early and late clinical development. Upon leaving AstraZeneca Sally worked for a large mid-sized contract research organisation as Director of Project Management.
CONSULTANTSDR THOMAS MORRIS – MEDICAL ADVISOR
Tom is a physician who has worked in pharmaceutical medicine and drug development for over 20 years with much of this time specialising in oncology. After several years working in clinical medicine, he joined firstly Medeval Ltd (University of Manchester) and then AstraZeneca, where he has held a number of global R&D roles. Most recently these included Senior Medical Director and Executive Director Clinical Programs. He has overseen several global drug development programs, interacting with leading external medical and scientific experts, academic groups and regulatory agencies.
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Another strong Astazeneca connection. Gla ;-)
DR ALAN BARGE, NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Alan is the former chief medical officer of Singapore-based ASLAN Pharmaceuticals PTE. Up until 2011, he was vice-president and head of oncology & infection at AstraZeneca, a role in which he was responsible for the overall strategy in oncology and infection from drug discovery to pr1oof-of-concept. He was also chairman of AstraZeneca’s Therapy Area Portfolio Team and accountable for the design and delivery of all projects, including budgetary oversight. Prior to his career at AstraZeneca, Alan was European and global medical director for Amgen Inc.
https://evgen.com/about/management/
Long standing collaboration between AstraZeneca and University of Manchester as well as a long standing collobaration with Evgen, the blockbuster cancer drugs Tamoxifen and Fulvestrant are both maketed by AstraZeneca and the recent phase 11 trials for SFX-01 confirm that both drugs in combination improves clinical outcomes, which would suggest that AstraZeneca could be a ptential partner for SFX-01's develoment.
AstraZeneca also have two drugs in patient trials for Covid-19, via the the Govt's Accord platform, and so more tgan conceivable that they could be the potential funding source for SFX-01's proposed Covid-19 patient trials, given the fact that through the University of Manchester's collaboration, they must be very much aware of the attributes and potential of SFX-01....Gla Holders....Fingers crossed for stellar news soon. ;-)
7/5/20
Two AstraZeneca molecules to be explored as Covid-19 treatments under government’s ACCORD platform
Published:07 May 2020
The AstraZeneca molecules being explored in this first wave are a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor previously approved for a different indication, and a phase II drug candidate targeting interleukin 33 (IL-33).
Evidence shows how a hyper-activated immune response in Covid-19 patients can result in pneumonia, respiratory failure and death.
hTtps://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/business/two-astrazeneca-molecules-to-be-explored-as-covid-19-treatments-under-government-s-accord-platform-9108658/
"SFX-01 reduced MFE of both ER+ primary and metastatic patient samples. Both tamoxifen and fulvestrant increased MFE and ALDH activity of PDX tumors, which was reversed by combination with SFX-01."
University of Manchester
“Through extensive close collaborative clinical and laboratory work with colleagues at locally based AstraZeneca, Manchester researchers have successfully improved treatments over the years. Today, more women presenting with early breast cancer are cured, remission in advanced disease lasts longer and survival is prolonged."
hTtps://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/beacons/breakthroughs/breast-cancer-treatment/
6/2/20
University of Manchester collaboration discovery
Gene signature identified which may determine response to SFX-01 in ER+ breast cancer treatment
Evgen closer to predicting which patients are most likely to benefit from breast cancer drug
Steve Franklin, CEO of Evgen Pharma, said: "This latest data from an eight-year collaboration with Manchester University, and the forthcoming publication, are very positive developments for both the design of future clinical trials and for supporting business development activity with potential partners. The University of Manchester have been tremendous collaborators and we would like to thank them for their continued commitment and enthusiasm.
4th February 2020
Stephen Robinson
Retweeted
Rob Clarke
@RobClarkeLab
·
4 Feb
Today we added the fifth submission from my lab to BioRxiv. The summation of more than 5 years research that culminated in a successful clinical trial
@ismenasg
@DrRachelEyre
@DrDAlferez
@asimslab
funded by
@BreastCancerNow
@ManchesterBRC
@TheChristie
Targeting STAT3 signalling using stabilised sulforaphane (SFX-01) inhibits endocrine resistant stem-like cells in ER-positive breast cancer
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE Estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer is frequently sensitive to endocrine therapy. Multiple mechanisms of endocrine therapy resistance have been identified, including cancer stem-like cell (CSC) activity. Sulforaphane (SFN) has previously been shown to target CSCs but its mechanism of action is unclear. Here we investigate SFX-01, a stabilised formulation of SFN, for its effects on breast CSC activity in ER+ preclinical models and to study its mechanism.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN CSC activity was measured by mammosphere formation efficiency (MFE), aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity, and tumor formation using patient samples and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors treated with SFX-01 alone or in combination with tamoxifen or fulvestrant. Gene expression and SFN target proteins in treated samples were assessed.
RESULTS SFX-01 reduced MFE of both ER+ primary and metastatic patient samples. Both tamoxifen and fulvestrant increased MFE and ALDH activity of PDX tumors, which was reversed by combination with SFX-01. SFX-01 significantly reduced tumor initiating cell frequency in secondary transplants at limiting dilution and reduced the formation of spontaneous lung micrometastases by PDX tumors in mice. Mechanistically, we establish that both tamoxifen and fulvestrant induce STAT3 phosphorylation. SFX-01 suppressed phospho-STAT3 and SFN directly bound STAT3 in patient and PDX samples. Analysis of ALDH+ cells from endocrine-resistant patient samples revealed activation of STAT3 target genes MUC1 and OSMR, which were inhibited by SFX-01 in patient samples. Increased expression of these genes after 3 months’ endocrine treatment of ER+ patients (n=68) predicted poor prognosis.
CONCLUSIONS Our data establish the importance of STAT3 signaling in CSC-mediated resistance to endocrine therapy and the potential of SFX-01 for improving clinical outcomes in ER+ breast cancer.
hTtps://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.03.932194v1
ps AstraZeneca!!!??????
"This latest data from an eight-year collaboration with Manchester University, and the forthcoming publication, are very positive developments for both the design of future clinical trials and for supporting business development activity with POTENTIAL PARTNERS."
Co-author of the study Dr Bruno Simões, research fellow at the University of Manchester, said: “Oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer is the most common breast cancer. These cancers frequently develop resistance to hormone therapies, which is a major clinical problem that we are working to address.
“We are excited by our findings that combining standard hormone therapies with SFX-01 could improve treatment of some breast cancer patients by reversing resistance driven by the STAT3 signalling pathway.
“With the success of the recent clinical trial in secondary breast cancer, we hope that further studies will now help to identify which patients may benefit the most from this drug so that it could soon reach the clinic.”
Dr Simon Vincent, director of Research at Breast Cancer Now, which helped to fund the study, said: “It’s really exciting that SFX-01 could in future help to improve the effectiveness of hormone therapies and prevent or treat the return of breast cancer. While hormone therapy is effective for most women, around a third still see their breast cancer return and we urgently need to find new ways to tackle and prevent drug resistance.
“This important discovery reveals exactly how SFX-01 can help overcome hormone therapy resistance and we hope it could now open the door to it being used from the outset of treatment, to prevent resistance from developing in the first place.”
Broccoli-based' drug could help treat breast cancer
29 January 2020
A new drug based on a compound found in cruciferous vegetables could improve the effectiveness of breast cancer hormone therapies, new research suggests.
Scientists at the University of Manchester found that the drug SFX-01 could reverse or potentially prevent resistance to hormone therapies by blocking a chain of reactions within cancer cells known as STAT3.
Up to 80% of breast cancer cases are known as oestrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer, since the disease’s growth is encouraged by the oestrogen hormone.
Hormone therapy can be very effective in reducing the risk of recurrence, though it’s thought around a third of patients with ER positive breast cancer see their disease return within 15 years, with some cases being attributable to patients developing resistance to treatment.
The team in Manchester assessed how SFX-01 worked by itself, as well as in combination with the hormone therapies tamoxifen and fulvestrant. The drug was tested both in patient samples and mice to see how it can be used to treat breast cancer. They found that SFX-01 reduced the ability of breast cancer stem cells to form tumours in mice, while also reducing the ability of breast cancer cells to form secondary tumours in the mice’s lungs.
The researchers also examined gene activity levels within the breast cancer stem cells from hormone therapy-resistant tumour samples from patients, discovering how cancer stem cells relied heavily on the STAT3 signalling pathway. STAT3 is able to become active when hormone therapy is used and ultimately lead to treatment resistance. However, the researchers discovered that SFX-01 was able to block the STAT3 signalling pathway and reverse the effects that may lead to hormone therapy resistance.
The drug - developed by UK company Evgen Pharma - has previously shown promise in a phase II trial as a treatment for secondary breast cancer that is already resistant to hormone therapy. That trial showed that SFX-01 was able to delay the progression of incurable secondary breast cancer in women who had already developed resistance to hormone therapy.
The drug was inspired by the natural compound sulforaphane, which is abundant in vegetables such as rocket, broccoli and kale.
The scientists in Manchester now hope that the drug could be added tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors to increase those drugs’ effectiveness in patients with primary breast cancer. More so, the team hopes that SFX-01 could be used as a new option to treat secondary breast cancer.
The study results were presented at the UK Interdisciplinary Breast Cancer Symposium, hosted by the charity, Breast Cancer Now, in Birmingham.
AstraZeneca must be very much aware of the attributes of SFX-01...Gla ;-)
6/2/20
University of Manchester collaboration discovery
Gene signature identified which may determine response to SFX-01 in ER+ breast cancer treatment
Evgen closer to predicting which patients are most likely to benefit from breast cancer drug
Steve Franklin, CEO of Evgen Pharma, said: "This latest data from an eight-year collaboration with Manchester University, and the forthcoming publication, are very positive developments for both the design of future clinical trials and for supporting business development activity with potential partners. The University of Manchester have been tremendous collaborators and we would like to thank them for their continued commitment and enthusiasm.
...................
Manchester solution: the world’s number one endocrine treatment
Manchester researchers have developed new approaches to endocrine therapy that have revolutionised breast cancer treatment worldwide.
“Through extensive close collaborative clinical and laboratory work with colleagues at locally based AstraZeneca, Manchester researchers have successfully improved treatments over the years. Today, more women presenting with early breast cancer are cured, remission in advanced disease lasts longer and survival is prolonged."
hTtps://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/beacons/breakthroughs/breast-cancer-treatment/