History of Bisantrene
Bisantrene was originally developed by Lederle Laboratories (a division of American Cyanamid) in the 1970s & 1980s. Lederle studied bisantrene in the 1980s in more than 50 human trials containing over 1500 patients, where it showed clinical activity in wide range of cancers including leukaemia, breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
Bisantrene & Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML)
146 patients treated across 10 monotherapy r/r AML studies demonstrated an average complete response rate of 46%. Bisantrene was approved for use in AML in France in 1988 although it was never sold due to issues with the formulation.
Two recent Phase 2 trials of bisantrene in r/r AML in 2020 and 2023 demonstrated a 40% response rate
Bisantrene & Breast Cancer
Bisantrene was studied in seven Phase 2 and a Phase 3 breast cancer trials in the 1980s. A large Phase 3 trial demonstrated that bisantrene outperformed mitoxantrone and provided a similar overall survival of doxorubicin (current standard of care chemotherapeutic), but with significantly lower rates of serious damage to the heart (4% bisantrene, 12% mitoxantrone, 23% doxorubicin).
In preclinical breast cancer studies conducted by Racura Oncology, bisantrene demonstrated strong anticancer efficacy and strong cardioprotective capabilities when used in combination with doxorubicin. This combination is being explored in the clinic in the CPACS trial.
