Big upsides for any positive Phase 2 results, well valued by big Pharma. PTX have the leading AML scientific trial principal Investigator on their team.
https://finfeed.com/features/bright-new-world-beyond-traditional-cancer-treatments/Turning cell ‘switches’ off or on
ASX small-cap Prescient Therapeutics (PTX) is bringing two novel cancer drugs to the table; PTX-200 to treat breast cancer, ovarian cancer and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), and PTX-100 to treat a range of solid and blood cancers.
Both cancer drugs have been developed to precisely target two important pathways implicated in the growth and spread of cancer: the Akt and Ras pathways. Akt and Ras are two differing growth molecules found in cells and they act as a switch.
In normally functioning cells the switch will flick ‘on’ and ‘off’ as required for health, however in cancer cells the switch can get stuck ‘on’. When this happens it leads to the runaway growth that’s typical of cancer cells, and what makes them so deadly.
The effect of PTX-100 on the Ras pathway, and PTX-200 on Akt, is to essentially flick this switch ‘off’ — and ultimately result in cancer cell death. PTX set out with the objective of making these therapies to provide an option for patients whose cancer has become resistant to traditional chemotherapy.
The market for AML, for example, carries a lot of promise. In 2016, Celator (NASDAQ:CPXX) climbed rapidly to a ~$780 million valuation on the back of positive trial results in AML, and was then snapped up by Jazz Pharmaceuticals in a $1.5 billion cash takeover. Professor Jeff Lancet was the principal investigator on the Celator trial — incidentally, the same man who now leads PTX’s AML trial.
