Midatech Pharma PLC Parliament Highlights Need for New DIPG Treatments
December 09 2020 - 1:00AM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMMTPH
Midatech Pharma PLC
09 December 2020
9 December 2020
Midatech Pharma PLC
("Midatech" or the "Company")
UK Parliament Debate Highlights the Need for New DIPG
Treatments
Midatech Pharma PLC (AIM: MTPH.L; Nasdaq: MTP), an R&D
biotechnology company focused on improving the biodelivery and
biodistribution of medicines, is pleased to note that its research
effort to find novel treatments for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine
Glioma ("DIPG") was recognised during a debate at Westminster Hall
in the UK Parliament on 7 December 2020.
The debate was in response to an e-petition by a member of the
public. Fifteen members of parliament (MPs) recounted
heart-breaking cases of children in their constituencies who had
also succumbed to DIPG and the devastating impact this diagnosis
and terminal prognosis had on their families. Other common themes
were the lack of progress at finding new treatments over the past
50 years and a need to target government funding to incentivise and
intensify the research effort.
Derek Thomas MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group
(APPG) on Brain Cancer, highlighted Midatech as a UK company
working in DIPG, it's clinical trials in San Francisco and New York
and the recent announcement of encouraging Phase I trial results of
its direct-to-tumour drug, MTX110. Jo Churchill, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary
Care recognised that "research must continue and intensify" and
that "we never want to see parents go through this pain".
The full Hansard record of the debate can be found at:
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-12-07/debates/5A3AD7FE-2CEB-4B07-896B-FA5D292A07E9/ChildhoodCancersResearch
Commenting, Steve Damment, EVP R&D of Midatech, said: "DIPG
is devastating for children and their families. The results from
our recently reported Phase I study in DIPG patients were
encouraging and we are planning our next step to move the programme
forward. It is gratifying to have our efforts recognised at
government level."
About DIPG
DIPG is a primary brain tumour arising in the pons (middle) of
the brain stem, is diffusely infiltrating and cannot be surgically
removed. Occurring mostly in children, the median survival rate in
a cohort of 316 cases was 10.0 months and OS12 was 35% (Jansen et
al, 2015. Neuro-Oncology 17(1):160-166). Although radiotherapy
prolongs survival, the majority of patients die within one year
following diagnosis. Systemic chemotherapy is ineffective, often
due to an inability of agents to cross the blood-brain barrier.
Approximately 1,000 (data on file) individuals are diagnosed with
DIPG worldwide each year.
About MTX110
MTX110 is a water-soluble form of panobinostat free base,
achieved through complexation with
hydroxypropyl-<BETA>-cyclodextrin (HPBCD), that enables
convection-enhanced delivery (CED) at potentially chemotherapeutic
doses directly to the site of the tumour. Panobinostat is a
hydroxamic acid and acts as a non-selective histone deacetylase
inhibitor (pan-HDAC inhibitor). The currently available oral
formulation of panobinostat lactate (Farydak(R)) is not suitable
for treatment of brain cancers owing to poor blood-brain barrier
penetration and inadequate brain drug concentrations. Based on
favourable translational science data, MTX110 is being evaluated
clinically as a treatment for DIPG (NCT03566199, NCT04264143) and
recurrent medulloblastoma (NCT04315064), and preclinically for
treatment of glioblastoma (SNO 2020 Abstract TMOD-27). MTX110 is
delivered directly into and around the patient's tumour via a
catheter system (e.g. CED or fourth ventricle infusions) to bypass
the blood-brain barrier. This technique exposes the tumour to very
high drug concentrations while simultaneously minimising systemic
drug levels and the potential for toxicity and other side effects.
Panobinostat has demonstrated high potency against DIPG tumour
cells in in vitro and in vivo models, and in a key study it was the
most promising of 83 anticancer agents tested in 14 patient-derived
DIPG cell lines (Grasso et al, 2015. Nature Medicine 21(6),
555-559).
For more information, please contact:
Midatech Pharma PLC
Stephen Stamp, CEO, CFO
Steve Damment, EVP R&D
Tel: +44 (0)29 20480 180
www.midatechpharma.com
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint
Broker)
Freddy Crossley, Emma Earl (Corporate Finance)
Rupert Dearden (Corporate Broking)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7886 2500
Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited (Joint Broker)
Andrew Thacker (Corporate Broking)
Tel: +44 (0)20 3657 0050
IFC Advisory Limited (Financial PR and UK Investor Relations)
Tim Metcalfe / Graham Herring
Tel: +44 (0)20 3934 6630
Email: midatech@investor-focus.co.uk
Edison Group (US Investor Relations)
Megan Paul
Tel: +1 (646) 653 7034
Email: mpaul@edisongroup.com
About Midatech Pharma PLC
Midatech Pharma PLC (dual listed on LSE AIM: MTPH; and NASDAQ:
MTP) is a drug delivery technology company focused on improving
the bio-delivery and bio-distribution of medicines. The Company
combines approved and development medications with its proprietary
and innovative drug delivery technologies to provide compelling
products that have the potential to powerfully impact the lives
of patients.
The Company has developed three in-house technology platforms,
each with its own unique mechanism to improve delivery of medications
to sites of disease. All of the Company's technologies have successfully
entered human use in the clinic, providing important validation
of the potential for each platform:
* Q-Sphera(TM) platform: a disruptive micro-technology
used for sustained release to prolong and control the
release of therapeutics over an extended period of
time (from weeks to months).
* MidaSolve(TM) platform: an innovative nanotechnology
used to dissolve insoluble drugs so that they can be
administered in liquid form directly and locally into
tumours.
* MidaCore(TM) platform: a leading-edge nanotechnology
used for targeting medications to sites of disease.
The platform nature of the technologies offers the potential to
develop multiple drug assets rather than being reliant on a limited
number of programmes. Midatech's technologies are supported by
36 patent families including 120 granted patents and an additional
70 patent applications. Midatech's headquarters and R&D facility
is in Cardiff, UK. For more information please visit www.midatechpharma.com
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