Thanks for the acknowledgment there, Philley. As most will...

Thanks for the acknowledgment there, Philley. As most will recognise, I don't mind having a crack at delving into the scientific stuff because its damn interesting but that's as far as my knowledge and experience goes. I am good at overlooking things and sometimes getting the facts wrong too, so I welcome corrections.

Speaking of all things interesting - this is a short youtube snippet with Prof Miles Prince from late 2016 about the drug brentuximab vedotin which he contributed to advancing its clinical applications through research, patient care, and advocacy.



What I found out about this drug via Chatty is:

• Brentuximab vedotin is effective for patients with refractory or relapsed CD30-positive CTCL, especially in cases where other systemic therapies fail.
• It provides an option for achieving durable responses, with manageable side effects when used appropriately.
• Approved for CD30-positive CTCL, including mycosis fungoides (MF) and primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (pcALCL), in patients who have received prior systemic therapy.
• Approximately 50% of CTCL patients are CD30-positive, but this percentage varies depending on the specific subtype of CTCL
• CD-30 expression increases with advancement of disease
• Brentuximab vedotin does have side effects ("predictable side effects")

Perhaps this is why the CTCL subtypes Mycosis Fungoides and Sezary Syndrome are listed in this slide:-




Whether Prof Miles Prince and others will be keen to see where and how PTX-100 could possibly fill the voids (such as CD30-negative MF and the majority of SS cases) and/or compliment the efficacy of a drug such as Brentuximab vedotin and others, remains to be seen.


Lets not forget the potential of PTX-100 as a targeted therapy with broader application within CTCL and TCL but possibly beyond in solid tumours at a higher dosage. Just on the immediate subject, though, this is what Chatty has to say in conclusion:-

Conclusion

Combining PTX-100 with brentuximab vedotin has scientific merit, especially for advanced or refractory CD30-positive lymphomas. This approach could provide dual targeting of survival and proliferative pathways while enhancing cytotoxic effects. Clinical trials would be necessary to validate this strategy.

However, as Chatty also illustrates, commercialsed drugs can and often are prescribed in combination in "off-label use". The above image of the patient's leg affected by CTCL would certainly qualify under compassionate use protocols (in the prescribing a combination of commercial drugs not clinically tested in combination) as set out by the Expanded Access Programs.

Anyway, its obvious that with each milestone, not only the more derisked the therapy becomes, the broader the potentials become and the greater the interest in the drug... and the company itself. Lets hope that CellPryme and perhaps even OmniCAR could start to deliver tangible progress after the years of pre-clinical research undertaken to optimise them.