Biopharmaceutical and medical device company Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ: GLMD) on Monday reported preclinical results showing that Aramchol combined with enzalutamide produced a three- to four-fold increase in prostate cancer cell death compared with enzalutamide alone.

The study used the VCaP prostate cancer cell line, which features high expression of wild-type androgen receptors, the clinically relevant AR-V7 splice variant and the TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion. The data showed that the interaction between the treatments strengthened with longer exposure.

Galmed said the findings support further evaluation of Aramchol, an SCD1 inhibitor, in combination with approved prostate cancer therapies, including enzalutamide and docetaxel.