Processa Pharmaceuticals Announces First Patient Dosed in Phase 2 Clinical Trial of NGC-Cap in Metastatic Breast Cancer

On October 2, 2024 Processa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing the next generation of chemotherapeutic drugs with improved efficacy and safety, reported that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating NGC-Cap for the treatment of advanced or metastatic breast cancer (Press release, Processa Pharmaceuticals, OCT 2, 2024, View Source [SID1234647002]).

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"Dosing the first patient in this Phase 2 trial is a significant step in the development of NGC-Cap as a more effective and better tolerated treatment than widely used capecitabine and 5-FU," stated David Young, PharmD, Ph.D., President of Research and Development at Processa. "We expect this Phase 2 trial to build upon NGC-Cap’s positive Phase 1b findings and we look forward to announcing the results from our interim analysis of this Phase 2 trial in mid-2025."

The Phase 2 trial (NCT06568692) is a global multicenter, open-label, adaptive designed safety-efficacy trial comparing two different doses of NGC-Cap to FDA-approved monotherapy capecitabine in approximately 60 to 90 patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The trial is designed to evaluate the safety-efficacy profile of NGC-Cap versus monotherapy capecitabine, to determine the potential optimal dosage regimens of NGC-Cap as required by the FDA Project Optimus Initiative and to evaluate the possibility of personalizing NGC-Cap therapy.

To date, three clinical trial sites, including some with multiple clinical locations, have received institutional review board approval to participate in this study and are recruiting patients. Processa plans to activate approximately 30 sites worldwide.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and a leading cause of cancer-related death. More than 2 million cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in 2022 with more than 665,000 deaths globally. The five-year survival rate for those diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer is approximately 30%.

About Capecitabine Administered with PCS6422 (NGC-Cap)
NGC-Cap combines the administration of PCS6422, the Company’s irreversible dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) enzyme inhibitor, with low doses of capecitabine. Capecitabine is the oral prodrug of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and along with 5-FU is among the most widely used chemotherapy drugs, particularly for the treatment of solid tumors. When metabolized (after oral ingestion) it becomes 5-FU in the body, which, in turn, metabolizes to molecules called anabolites that actively kill duplicating cells, such as cancer cells, and to molecules called catabolites that only cause side effects. The presence of the DPD enzyme plays an integral role in the undesirable conversion of 5-FU to catabolites causing side effects while simultaneously decreasing tumor exposure to 5-FU and its cancer-killing anabolites.