CALLISTO EXPANDS PHASE I/IIA TRIAL OF CANCER TREATMENT

Callisto Pharmaceuticals has announced the expansion of its ongoing Phase I/IIa trial of Atiprimod to treat relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients to an additional clinical trial site: the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Atipimod is also in a Phase I/IIa trial in advanced cancer patients, and the company recently announced that, based on responses observed in patients with advanced carcinoid cancer, it intends to initiate a Phase II clinical trial of Atiprimod in carcinoid patients in the next few months.

Atiprimod is an orally bioavailable, small-molecule drug that has been shown to be antiangiogenic, to inhibit secretion of VEGF and IL-6, to elicit an apoptotic response and to inhibit phosphorylation of key kinases involved in tumor progression and survival including Akt and STAT3.