Products - Lead Drug
Our lead drug candidate, CZ48, is an improved form of the drug 9-NitroCamptothecin (9NC) which was discussed in the About Us: Background page, In clinical trials of 8NC, even with very low blood levels of active drug (< 5%), outcomes showed significant activity and improved survival in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. CZ48 has been designed to significantly improve blood levels compared to 9NC,, yet retain this high degree of anti-cancer activity. In vitro studies show that when CZ48 is incubated with Human Serum Albumin (HSA), blood levels of active drug are increased more than tenfold compared to 9NC. This increase in drug availability should translate into an even higher degree of efficacy.
The ongoing Phase I clinical trial of CZ48 is comprised of three dosing steps and is currently in the the last (3rd) step. In this 3rd step patient toxicity has been very limited. This is exciting news at Cao Pharmaceuticals as this was one of the design goals of CZ48. This Phase I trial is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019. The Phase II trials to evaluate efficacy are schedule to start in Q2 of 2020. |