Halozyme Therapeutics Announces Positive Findings With Pegylated Enzyme in Prostate Can...( - Systemic treatment with chemoth...),Health

- Systemic treatment with chemotherapy and pegylated enzyme produces

significantly enhanced survival compared to chemotherapy alone -

- Pegylated enzyme well tolerated -

SAN DIEGO, July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HALO), a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products targeting the extracellular matrix, today announced the presentation of positive pre-clinical animal efficacy data for its pegylated-rHuPH20 enzyme (PEGPH20) at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Translational Cancer Medicine meeting in Monterey, CA. The study showed that treatment of hormone resistant human prostate cancer in tumor bearing mouse models with intravenous PEGPH20 in combination with the chemotherapeutic drugs, docetaxel (Taxotere(R)) or liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil(R)) resulted in a substantial increase in anti-tumor activity. The docetaxel combination treatment demonstrated significantly enhanced survival compared to treatment with the chemotherapeutic agent alone. The effects of PEGPH20 were selective to prostate tumors producing hyaluronan (HA), consistent with the selective reduction of tumor interstitial fluid pressure (IFP). Treatment with PEGPH20 was well tolerated in non tumor-bearing mice without significant increases in neutropenia (depletion of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell) compared to chemotherapy alone.

"These findings clearly demonstrate the activity of our long acting PEGPH20 enzyme candidate against HA-rich tumors in combination with chemotherapy," said Gregory Frost, PhD, Halozyme's Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. "By targeting tumors that overproduce the HA matrix component, PEGPH20 may selectively att
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