Sophiris, Stock Sliding After Cancer Drug Data, Still Plans Phase 3
Summary
Sophiris (NASDAQ: SPHS ) already had encouraging mid-stage clinical trial data testing one dose of its drug, topsalysin, in prostate cancer patients.In June, the company said 10 of 37 patients with localized prostate cancer in its Phase 2b study who received the treatment reported a clinically significant response.One of the patients who received a second dose died the day of the administration of a heart attack, but an investigation determined that the death was unlikely to be related to topsalysin, according to Sophiris .It’s part of a crop of noninvasive techniques called focal therapies , which are meant to destroy small tumors inside the prostate while sparing most of the gland’s normal tissue.“Taking into account the observed efficacy and safety profile to date following a single administration, we believe urologists would welcome a treatment like topsalysin for men with clinically significant localized prostate cancer,” Mark Emberton, the trial’s principal investigator, and University College London Faculty of Medical Sciences dean, said in prepared remarks.