Aida Pharmaceuticals has announced an update on its testing of Rh-Apo2L, the next large-scale product to be launched by the company into the Chinese market.
Aida previously announced that it had successfully passed its phase I tests in July 2006, which consists of tests for safety, dosage and the potential cancer treatments to be tested in phases II and III. Aida is currently undergoing phase II testing of Rh-Apo2L testing through China’s SFDA, the national drug regulatory agency.
Phase II is divided into two sub-stages: IIA and IIB. IIA consists of tests on over 100 human patients using only Rh-Apo2L and gauges the efficacy of the drug as well as the narrowing of the scope of targeted cancers. Results thus far have shown strong efficacy in treating lung cancer (non-small cell), non-Hodgkins lymphoma, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer and kidney cancer. Shanghai Qiaer, Aida’s research subsidiary, has reduced the key cancer targets to the three main diseases which Rh-Apo2L has shown the most efficacy and which have the most market potential.
To date, the combined use of Rh-Apo2L with selected anti-cancer drugs has shown good efficacy, reliable safety and no additional side effects. Tests are still ongoing for various dosage amounts on different types of cancer and no regulatory approval has been received for these drugs.
Rh-Apo2L is a pioneering biotechnology gene therapy drug used to treat certain forms of cancer. The production and marketing of the drug is expected to generate substantial profits for Aida.