YM BIOSCIENCES ANNOUNCES POSITIVE PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM PHASE I/II LUNG CANCER TRIAL OF NIMOTUZUMAB COMBINED WITH...( Data Presented at the 12th World Con...)

Data Presented at the 12th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Seoul, Korea

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - YM BioSciences Inc. (AMEX: YMI, TSX: YM, AIM: YMBA), an oncology company that identifies, develops and commercializes differentiated products for patients worldwide, today announced positive preliminary results from the first two cohorts of the Phase I part of a Phase I/II trial of nimotuzumab in combination with radiation for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who are unsuitable for radical chemotherapy. The data were reported on September 5th in a poster presentation at the 12th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Seoul, Korea. Nimotuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).

"While preliminary, these results are compelling because we observed clinical benefit (Partial Response or Stable Disease) in every one of the 13 patients so far enrolled in this study. A study by The National Cancer Institute of Canada demonstrated that patients with advanced NSCLC with Stable Disease as best response for treatment had Overall Survival similar to patients with Partial Response. The relatively long survival times observed in the first cohort of this trial are encouraging and are in agreement with the NCIC observations," said Dr. Igor Sherman, YM's Director of Clinical Research. "Although nimotuzumab specifically targets the EGF receptor, the reported absence of side effects, particularly the absence of severe rash, makes nimotuzumab therapeutically attractive in this setting."

The Phase I component enrolled patients at three centers in Canada and is evaluating the safety and feasibility of administrating nimotu
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