The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designations to aldoxorubicin in three indications: glioblastoma multiforme, small cell lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. Aldoxorubicin combines doxorubicin with a novel single-molecule linker that binds directly and specifically to albumin, allowing greater doses of the chemotherapeutic agent to be administered while reducing its toxic side effects.
Aldoxorubicin is currently being studied in a global phase III clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of aldoxorubicin as a second-line treatment for patients with soft-tissue sarcoma. CytRx, a biopharmaceutical research and development company, is also evaluating aldoxorubicin in two phase II clinical trials, one in patients with late-stage glioblastoma multiforme and the other in HIV-related Kaposi’s sarcoma. A global phase IIb trial in patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer is expected to commence later this month, and the company is undertaking a phase Ib combination study of aldoxorubicin plus gemcitabine as a potential precursor to a trial in relapsed ovarian cancer. ■
