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  • PharmaAust and Catalent to produce a significant amount of MPL tablets to treat B cell lymphoma in dogs
  • If the trails are successful it will pave the way for human trials

PharmAust, along with Catalent, has announced the commencement of its Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) tablet for its phase two trials for dogs with cancer.

The tablet production will now follow the nine-day canine safety study which has demonstrated excellent results in healthy beagle dogs. Manufacturing to GMP standards enables regulators to compete the integrity between different brands.

After this trial PharmAust expects that its GMP manufactured monepantel (MPL) tablets can be used for both human and dog trials.

MPL is an oral aminoacetonitrile compound that modulates the mTOR pathways, which is a key driver in many types of cancers. With more than 80 per cent of dog owners using drugs to treat their animals PharmAust is evaluating its MPL for treatment of cancers in dogs and other companion animals.

It is estimated that in the United States 6 million dogs are diagnosed with cancer each year. Most of these cancers, lymphoma, mammary and osteosarcoma, are similar to those in humans so dogs are increasingly being recognised as excellent models for the human disease.

PharmAust is developing MPL as a way to treat common cancers in dogs then use the information and results to de-risk the human trials.

“We also intend that these clinical trials in dogs with cancer will pave the way for registration and future clinical trials in human patients with cancer,” PharmaAust’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr Richard Mollard said.

Testing will primarily focus on dogs with B cell lymphoma which is one of the more common types of cancer in dogs. So far there are no reliable curative treatments but in December 2017 PharmAust announced that MPL shows activity fighting against this cancer.

Trials are planned to begin in August-September 2019 and will initially follow a 28 day treatment regime but can be extended if pet owners request any ongoing treatments.

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