Collaboration for Radiotherapy Microphere Drug Development for the Treatment of Primary and Secondary Liver Cancer

Sirtex Medical, Ltd. (Sydney, Australia) and Guerbet, SA (Villepinte, France) are entering into a clinical studies collaboration in primary and secondary (metastatic) liver cancer.

The aim of the collaboration is to examine how Sirtex’s SIR-Spheres microspheres and Guerbet’s Lipiodol Ultra Fluid may be combined or sequenced optimally—and additionally developed—for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, metastatic colorectal cancer, metastatic neuroendocrine tumors, and a variety of other primary and secondary liver cancers.

Sirtex’s chief executive officer, Gilman Wong commented that, “Sirtex’s and Guerbet’s shared vision is that one day, rather than being a terminal disease that patients unfortunately die from, liver cancer may be considered a chronic disease that patients can successfully live with. During my time at Sirtex, I have been fortunate to meet a number of patients who have survived their liver cancer for many years following treatment with SIR-Spheres microspheres. We hope through this clinical studies collaboration to make further gains for the benefit of the patients afflicted by liver cancer. Should the initial collaboration prove fruitful, future collaborations in R&D and marketing between our respective companies may be considered.”

Sirtex’s SIR-Spheres microspheres are utilized in selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT), also known as radioembolization, for the treatment of patients with inoperable liver tumors. SIR-Spheres microspheres have been shown in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to optimize survival in patients with inoperable liver metastases from primary colorectal cancer. SIR-Spheres microspheres are now being assessed in six international, multicenter RCTs in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which cumulatively will enroll over 2,100 patients. The first of these RCTs, the SIRFLOX study, finished patient enrolment in April 2013 and is expected to report its findings in early 2015.

Guerbet’s Lipiodol Ultra Fluid is used in traditional transarterial chemo-embolization (cTACE) procedures for the treatment of patients with inoperable liver tumors. cTACE has been published in over 100 clinical studies. Recently, cTACE has been established as the standard-of-care for the treatment of patients with intermediate stage HCC by three international clinical consensus guidelines in Europe, Japan, and the United States. These consensus guidelines universally recommend cTACE as the standard-of-care for patients with intermediate stage HCC.

Guerbet’s chief executive officer, Yves L’Epine, said, “We are excited about the potential of combining or sequencing our products to improve the efficacy of interventional radiology procedures in patients with unresectable hepatic tumors. Indeed, while Lipiodol and SIR-Spheres individually are well proven and widely used therapies in their own right, they have never been formally evaluated together or sequentially.”

Guerbet is a pharmaceutical group focused on contrast imaging development, offering of contrast products for X-ray and MRI and for interventional radiology, along with a range of injectors and related medical equipment to provide enhanced diagnosis and treatment of patients.

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Sirtex Medical
Guerbet