The Health Sciences Authority (HSA), Singapore, has approved Singapore-based Lion TCR Pte Ltd's Phase I/II multicentre clinical study of its product candidate, LioCyx, intended for the treatment of relapsed liver cancer post-liver transplantation, it was reported yesterday.

This is the first such trial in Singapore and for the region that utilises precision T cell receptor immune cell therapy to target Hepatitis B virus-related liver cancer, which forms at least 80% of liver cancers in Asia. Patient recruitment for the Phase I/II clinical trial will begin with National University Hospital (NUH), Singapore.

The product has been developed by Lion TCR's scientific founder, Prof Antonio Bertoletti, an HBV-liver cancer clinician scientist. The company ststed that several Investigator-sponsored trials of LioCyx in Singapore and China have indicated results of good safety profile and encouraging signs of efficacy.