Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Presents Promising Data From Its Phase II Bavituximab Breast Cancer Trial at 2009 ASCO Annu...( - Interim Primary Endpoint Data from ...)

- Interim Primary Endpoint Data from Phase II Study Shows 71% Objective Tumor Response Rate in Evaluable Patients Receiving Bavituximab Plus Docetaxel -

- Secondary Endpoint Evaluation Shows Promising 7.4 Month Median Progression Free Survival in Initial Study Cohort -

ORLANDO, Fla. and TUSTIN, Calif., June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM) today announced that preliminary results from a Phase II trial of its lead anti-phosphatidylserine antibody bavituximab in combination with docetaxel in patients with advanced breast cancer will be discussed this morning in an oral presentation at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Initial data from the Phase II study indicates that 10 of 14 evaluable patients in the first cohort of the trial achieved an objective tumor response by the end of the treatment period according to RECIST criteria. Recent analysis shows the median progression free survival of the patients enrolled in the first part of the study was 7.4 months.

Bavituximab is a monoclonal antibody with a unique anti-cancer mechanism that works by helping to activate the body's own immune system to fight cancer. Bavituximab binds to the cellular membrane component phosphatidylserine (PS) that is usually located inside cells, but which becomes exposed specifically on the outside of cells that line tumor blood vessels. Once bound to the exposed PS, bavituximab helps mobilize the body's immune system to destroy both the tumors and their associated blood vessels.

"The preliminary data in this first cohort of advanced breast cancer patients treated with bavituximab and docetaxel along with data we have generated from the two other ongoing Phase II bavituximab cancer trials is very encouraging and suggests that bavituxi
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