(financial news) Bionomics Limited : OPEN BRIEFING (Q&A)- CEO ON BNC105 OVARIAN CANCER TRIAL

Bionomics Limited : OPEN BRIEFING - CEO ON BNC105 OVARIAN CANCER TRIAL

Q. Why have you focused on ovarian cancer? 

CEO & MD Deborah Rathjen
"There is a clear unmet medical need for more effective systemic therapy. Despite modest
improvements in patient outcomes as a result of surgery or platinum-based chemotherapy, the majority of ovarian cancer patients relapse and die of their disease.
The impetus to focus on ovarian cancer as a clinical trial setting for BNC105 came from the preclinical data. The data showed firstly, a strong synergy of BNC105 with a class of cancer chemotherapy drugs called platins which are based on platinum and secondly, that BNC105 was effective and in fact very potent, in killing platin resistant as well as platin sensitive ovarian cancer cells in culture. Platinum-based drugs are used as part of the standard-of-care in the treatment of ovarian cancer, however, resistance to platinum-based therapy can develop quickly and both sets of data point to the potential of BNC105 in this setting.
Ovarian cancer is the seventh leading cause of cancer-related death among Australian women. It is often diagnosed at an advanced stage after the cancer has spread beyond the ovary. In 2008 in Australia 1,272 ovarian cancer cases were diagnosed. The number of ovarian cancer cases in Australia increased by 47 percent between 1982 and 2006. It is anticipated that the number of new cases will continue to increase, with an estimated 1,488 women expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2015. In 2010 there were an estimated 21,880 new cases and 13,850 deaths from ovarian cancer in the US. It is estimated that approximately US$2.2 billion is spent in the US each year on treating ovarian cancer..........


Q. How relevant will the trials be for BNC105's potential application to other types of cancer? 

CEO & MD Deborah Rathjen
"Looking beyond ovarian cancer to the broader potential of BNC105, the platins include cisplatin and carboplatin. They are used in the treatment of a broad range of solid tumour types including lung, prostate, breast, melanoma and mesothelioma, hence the importance of combining BNC105 with these drugs as we are doing in the ovarian cancer trial. ......."