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Racura Oncology (ASX:RAC) has been greenlit by a safety committee to increase to 100mg the dose of its novel RC220 drug for one patient with a specific type of lung cancer.
Racura’s RC220 is being combined with another drug called osimertinib to treat Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer, contracted as EGFRm NSCLC.
EGFR is a protein that occurs naturally in the body and when it goes haywire, for non-smokers, it’s one of the most common causes of ‘organic’ lung cancer.
While the single patient being advanced to Cohort-2 reflects just that – one single patient – the news had HotCopper investors’ interest on Monday given that the EGFR gene is so commonly involved in lung cancer cases (where patients typically don’t smoke).
There was one interesting note in Racura’s release on Monday – in the Cohort 1 testing, where patients received 50mg of RC220, there were originally two patients where only one is going ahead to Cohort 2.
One patient part of Cohort 1 ended up with an inflamed colon, and so under the safety rules they were dropped from testing. The drug also being used, osimertinib, is known to cause colitis; ultimately it is unclear which drug caused it.
Racura noted on Monday the patient going to Cohort 2 has had three doses of RC220 and has no complaints.
“We are pleased with the SRC’s clearance, which allows RC220 to progress to the next dose level in the HARNESS-1 trial,” Racura CEO Daniel Tillett said.
“This is an important early milestone for the trial and reflects the disciplined execution of our clinical development plan … the Cohort 1 safety review identified no dose-limiting toxicities or treatment-related safety concerns in either patient during the safety observation period.”
RAC last traded at A$1.80/sh.
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