According to a story from biotech-finances.com, the biopharmaceutical company miRagen Therapeutics, Inc., recently announced the release of data from a Phase 1 clinical trial of miR-155 inhibitor cobomarsen as a treatment for mycosis fungoides. MiRagen is dedicated to the development of RNA-targeted therapies. The findings indicate that the drug has an acceptable safety profile and the potential to improve quality of life for patients with this disease.
About Mycosis Fungoides
Mycosis fungoides, which is also known as Alibert-Bazin syndrome, is the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. This is a blood cancer which affects T-cells, which are a type of white blood cell. The cause of the disease is currently unknown, but genetics do not appear to play a major role in most cases. Men are more likely to contract mycosis fungoides than women are. Symptoms of this cancer include skin lesions, itching, tumors, and rashes. Much of the skin eventually becomes inflamed. The disease can be a challenge to diagnose in early stages because it tends to resemble other skin conditions. Treatment for the illness can include UV light, topical steroids, chemotherapy, local radiation therapy, and photopharesis. Systemic therapies, which may be used in advanced disease, have limited clinical data supporting their effectiveness. The five year survival rate for the disease is around 77 percent. To learn more about mycosis fungoides, click here.
Phase 1 Trial Results
Findings from the trial demonstrate that cobomarsen was well tolerated at all dosing levels. 92 percent of patients in the trial had improved tumor burden. Of the patients that were dosed six times, 52 percent were able to achieve a partial response to the drug. The mean length of response in the study was 259 days and of the patients that achieved partial response, 69 percent were able to maintain the response for a duration of four months.
These findings, particularly the reduction in tumor burden, indicate that cobomarsen has the potential to offer quality of life improvements for patients with mycosis fungoides. The company hopes that these results will allow them to successfully obtain Accelerated Approval for the drug from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
