On June 3, 2019 Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE MKT: CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company with a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address cancer, liver and inflammatory diseases, reported that data from its recently completed Phase II trial in patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer, was presented at the late-breaking abstract session of the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper), the world’s largest clinical cancer research meeting (Press release, Can-Fite BioPharma, JUN 3, 2019, View Source [SID1234536791]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Prof. Salomon M. Stemmer, Principal Investigator of Can-Fite’s Phase II trial, delivered the presentation on Sunday June 2, 2019 at the Developmental Immunotherapy and Tumor Immunobiology session. The presentation is entitled: "A phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating efficacy and safety of namodenoson (CF102), an a3 adenosine receptor agonist (A3AR), as a second-line treatment in patients with Child-Pugh B (CPB) advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)." While the Phase II study did not achieve its primary endpoint of overall survival in the whole population (n=78), superiority in overall survival was found in the largest study subpopulation of patients who were classified Child Pugh B7 (n=56) based on severity of disease compared to the placebo treated group. Median survival in the Namodenoson group (n = 34) was 6.8 months, versus 4.3 months for the placebo group (n = 18) (Hazard Ratio = 0.77, p = 0.40). (See Figure 1 )

The most impressive finding was that 44% of the patients with Child Pugh B7 treated with Namodenoson were alive at one year compared to 18% in the placebo group. In the overall patient population, among patients who had at least one assessment post baseline, disease control was significant in the Namodenoson group, 26% versus 10% in the control group after four months of treatment, P value 0.013. Among the other positive findings that were presented is the 9% partial response in the Namodenoson treated group vs. 0% in the placebo group. An example of a patient demonstrating an excellent tumor shrinkage was presented. (See Figure 2)

A3AR expression level at baseline was 1.98±0.36 in comparison to 1 unit in healthy subjects and was not changed substantially during the treatment period, demonstrating that continuous treatment with Namodenoson does not result in de-sensitization or loss of the target. Consistent with its previously demonstrated favorable safety profile, Namodenoson showed an adverse event profile that was comparable to that of placebo.

"No systemic therapies have shown clinical benefit in Child Pugh B patients with advanced HCC, underscoring the importance of developing an effective drug to serve this unmet medical need," stated Can-Fite CEO Pnina Fishman. "We believe evidence of Namodenoson’s efficacy to prolong life in Child Pugh B7 liver cancer patients, without any deterioration in quality of life due to the drug’s strong safety data, make it a promising anti cancer agent to be moved into Phase III. We were pleased that ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) selected Prof. Stemmer’s presentation so he could share these important findings at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) with the world’s leading clinical cancer researchers and physicians."

About Namodenoson

Namodenoson is a small orally bioavailable drug that binds with high affinity and selectivity to the A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR). Namodenoson is being evaluated as a second line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma, with a recently completed Phase II trial and planned Phase III trial in this indication. The drug is currently in an ongoing Phase II trial as a treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). A3AR is highly expressed in diseased cells whereas low expression is found in normal cells. This differential effect accounts for the excellent safety profile of the drug.