DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical firm focused on the advancement and commercialization of novel cancer therapies, recently announced it has been invited to present a clinical strategy overview concerning VAL-083 (dianhydrogalactitol) and its potential as a treatment for patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The presentation will take place at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC 2015) to be held between September 6 and 9, 2015 in Denver, Colorado.

The firm’s abstract is titled, “Post-Market Clinical Trial of Dianhydrogalactitol in the Treatment of Relapsed or Refractory Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer,” and the presentation will be held on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

DelMar intends to initiate a clinical trial for NSCLC in partnership with the Guangxi Wuzhou Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. The terms of this collaboration stipulate that Guangxi Wuzhou Pharma will be funding the assessment while DelMar will be focused on the protocol advancement and will lead the trial. DelMar aims to work with Guangxi Wuzhou Pharma in order to advance novel clinical data to accelerate the development of VAL-083 in China with the goal of establishing VAL-083 as a worldwide treatment for NSCLC.

VAL-083 is a bi-functional alkylating agent that already received approval from the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) to address lung cancer, however, some limitations were imposed.

DelMar has previously presented a study “In vitro activity of dianhydrogalactitol alone or with platinum drugs in the treatment of NSCLC” demonstrating that VAL-083’s mechanism of action is different from platinum-based chemotherapy, which is the standard treatment for NSCLC nowadays and why VAL-083 retains its increased level of anti-cancer activity in NSCLC phenotypes (that are very resistant to the currently used therapy). Further, evidence points to the fact that the combination of VAL-083 with cisplatin or oxaliplatin creates a synergistic effect against NSCLC cell lines, which include ones that appear to be resistant to TKI therapy in vitro.

DelMar strongly believes that VAL-083 might address some of modern unmet medical needs concerning the treatment of NSCLC, in particular where other therapies have failed. Finally, VAL-083 has the capacity to cross the blood brain barrier, which represents hope for treating patients with metastasizes in the brain.

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