Cristal Therapeutics Progresses Nanomedicine CriPec®-docetaxel to Phase 1b Development in Patients with Solid Tumours

Cristal Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted nanomedicines for the treatment of cancer and other diseases with high unmet patient need, announced that it has begun a Phase 1b clinical program of its lead nanomedicine candidate CriPec®-docetaxel in patients with solid tumours.

This CriPec®-docetaxel program will evaluate the optimal frequency and dosing schedule for Phase 2 clinical efficacy trials, as well as examining the distribution and uptake of this nanomedicine.

CriPec®-docetaxel is a new drug modality that entraps docetaxel (Taxotere®), a clinically validated chemotherapy, as its therapeutic payload into nanoparticles. This nanomedicine candidate is specifically designed to enable enhanced tumour accumulation and local drug release at the target site, to boost the therapeutic efficacy and to overcome the shortfalls associated with current docetaxel products, such as the toxic systemic side effects.

The Phase 1b program is being initiated based on preliminary positive Phase 1a results from the open-label, safety and pharmacokinetic study, which suggest that CriPec®-docetaxel can be administered at therapeutic dose levels that are safe and well tolerated. CriPec®-docetaxel also demonstrated a unique and improved pharmacokinetic profile over Taxotere® and other docetaxel-based drug candidates.

Dr Joost Holthuis, Cristal Therapeutics’ CEO and co-founder said, “Progressing CriPec®-docetaxel to a Phase 1b program is an important milestone, and highlights the unique preliminary safety and pharmacokinetic data produced from the Phase 1a study. We look forward to the results of the consolidated Phase 1 program.”

The Phase 1b study is being conducted at the Department of General Medical Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium and at the following three clinical centres across the Netherlands: Erasmus M.C. Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre, Amsterdam and the University Medical Centre Groningen.

More information on the Phase 1 study can be found at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02442531

About Cristal Therapeutics
Cristal Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted nanomedicines for the treatment of cancer and other diseases with high unmet patient need and considerable commercial potential. The Company’s product candidates are based on its proprietary CriPec® polymeric nanoparticle technology platform, which enables the design of customised nanomedicines with superior therapeutic profiles. CriPec®-based products have the potential to provide enhanced efficacy and reduced side effect profiles, thus offering improved disease treatment.

The Company’s lead product, CriPec®-docetaxel, is in clinical Phase 1b studies for the treatment of solid tumours. The Company has several other products in preclinical development targeting cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Cristal Therapeutics is a private company that has raised over Euro 19M to date. The Company’s headquarters and laboratories are located in Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Contacts
Cristal Therapeutics
Joost Holthuis, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
+31 65 435 5535
joost.holthuis@cristaltherapeutics.com

Media relations
Instinctif Partners
Lynne Trowbridge / Eileen Paul / Samantha Cheung
+44 20 7457 2861
cristal@instinctif.com