Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Vion Pharma tries another Phase 3 trial of blood cancer drug

By Mass High Tech Staff

Vion Pharmaceuticals Inc. will begin a Phase 3 clinical trial this fall, in collaboration with the Dutch-Belgian Cooperative Trial Group for Hematology Oncology (HOVON), to test its anti-blood cancer agent, Cloretazine. The drug is intended to treat acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and high-risk myelodysplasia (MDS).

The trial will be conducted first to test safety and effectiveness of three different dose levels of Cloretazine, combined with chemotherapy drugs cytarabine and idarubicin; the second part of the test will evaluate the effectiveness of Cloretazine without the chemotherapy drugs.

Clinical trials will be conducted in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Norway.

In May 2007, New Haven, Conn.-based Vion Pharmaceuticals (OTC: VION) suspended a pivotal Phase 3 trial for Cloretazine on the advice of an independent safety panel. The firm was testing Cloretazine in patients with relapsed leukemia. The trial was suspended after the independent panel reviewed interim data from 210 patients who took the experimental drug, and found that “any remission could be compromised by the observed on-study mortality to date,” the company reported.

More recently, Vion Pharmaceuticals announced last week that it had been delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market for failing to maintain at least $2.5 million in stockholders’ equity, and exchange requirement. As a result, the company’s common stock is now listed on the Over The Counter bulletin board.

Vion Pharmaceuticals reported a net loss of $34 million on total revenue of $70,000 in 2007.