NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - April 23, 2015) - An ongoing clinical trial at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center evaluating the use of an oral wound rinse for the management of oral mucositis/stomatitis, may pave the way for better understanding and prevention of the debilitating side effect seen in many patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The team at UCLA is providing patients with MuGard®, a mucoadhesive oral wound rinse in the prevention and treatment of stomatitis in breast cancer patients using Novartis' everolimus (marketed by Novartis Oncology under the tradename Afinitor®). Ignitor (everolimus) is a cancer medication that interferes with the growth of cancer cells and slows their spread in the body. For some patients on the drug, they may experience side effects such as swollen gums, painful mouth sores, and pain when swallowing (generally characterized as severe stomatitis). The MuGard oral rinse offers protection from those side effects as it coats and protects the mucosal tissue in the oral cavity and esophagus.
Oral mucositis ("OM") is a debilitating side effect of some radiation and chemotherapy cancer treatments, characterized by sores and ulcers in the mouth and throat that make swallowing difficult or impossible. It is estimated that 97% of patients receiving radiation for head and neck cancer, 70% of patients receiving stem cell transplantation, and up to 40% of patients receiving conventional chemotherapy develop oral mucositis. There are an estimated 400,000 patients diagnosed with OM in the US annually, but OM is often under-diagnosed and the population at risk is significantly higher.
David Nowotnik, Ph.D., PlasmaTech's Senior Vice President, Research and Development can discuss the following:
- What exactly is oral mucositis and what are the debilitating effects of this condition?
- How common is this condition?
- What types of cancer patients are at risk?
- What problems does it cause for patients and patient compliance, as it continues to grow as important new therapies such as everolimus expand commercially?
- What other treatments can MuGard work with?
- How does this treatment offer clinicians an important option in the management of oral mucositis?
An interview with David with Newswise Live can be seen on the following link: https://vimeo.com/125708909
About Dr. David Nowotnik is the Senior Vice President of Research and Development at PlasmaTech Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. Nowotnik brings over 40 years' experience in pharmaceutical R&D, quality systems, and regulatory affairs to the team. He has served in a senior capacity at top pharma companies, including, Bristol-Myers Squib, Amersham International, Guilford Pharmaceuticals, Tate & Lyle, Aspro-Nicholas. Dr. Nowotnik received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from University of London.
About PlasmaTech: PlasmaTech is a biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing protein biologic therapies and oncology supportive care products. Exploiting two proprietary platforms, Salt Diafiltration (SDF™) Process and Polymer Hydrogel Technology (PHT™), PlasmaTech is active in the development and commercialization of human plasma-derived therapeutics, including its proprietary alpha-1 protease inhibitor, SDF Alpha™. The company has a robust product pipeline that includes two commercial stage products, MuGard® and ProctiGard™, and follow-on products in development. For more information, visit www.plasmatechbio.com.
Editors's note:
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/125708909" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="https://vimeo.com/125708909">Expert Available to Discuss Treatment for Oral Mucositis</a> from<ahref="https://vimeo.com/user24116982">Newswise</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
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