Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Doses First Patient in Cotara(R) Phase II Brain Cancer Tria...( - Access to Large Population of Glio...),Health

- Access to Large Population of Glioblastoma Patients Expected to Support

Rapid Enrollment in Phase ll Study of Promising New Approach -

TUSTIN, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and hepatitis C virus infection, today announced that the first patient has been administered Cotara(R) in a new clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this novel tumor necrosis therapy being developed for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a deadly form of brain cancer.

"We are delighted that patient treatment has begun in this important Phase II clinical trial that was designed to further confirm the encouraging signs of anti-tumor activity seen in earlier Cotara brain cancer studies," said Steven W. King, president and CEO of Peregrine. "Given the high level of interest at participating clinical sites, we are optimistic that patient enrollment and dosing will proceed at a brisk pace."

This multi-center open label Phase ll safety and efficacy study is designed to enroll up to 40 glioblastoma patients who have experienced a first relapse. The study's primary objective is to confirm the maximum tolerated dose of Cotara in these GBM patients. Secondary objectives include estimates of overall patient survival, progression free survival and the proportion of patients alive at six months. Patients in the trial are receiving a single infusion of Cotara by convection-enhanced delivery (CED), an NIH-developed technique that delivers the agent to the tumor with great precision, achieving up to a 10,000-fold greater concentra
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SOURCE Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Copyright©2007 PR Newswire.

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