Starpharma, an Australia-based biotech company, announced on Friday positive interim results from the prostate cancer cohort in its ongoing phase two trial of DEP cabazitaxel.

The company showed that 100% of evaluable patients with (Stage IV) metastatic prostate cancer have had efficacy responses, utilising one or more standard measures of disease.

DEP cabazitaxel is a patented, detergent (polysorbate-80) free, nanoparticle version of the conventional cancer drug, Jevtana that is intended to treat advanced prostate cancer. The company's interim results in prostate cancer indicated one or more efficiency signal in 100% of patients evaluated subsequent to DEP cabazitaxel treatment. Out of the total number of patients, 64% with assessable tumour lesions saw prolonged stable disease and significant decrease in tumour size for up to 36 weeks, 96% of patients with assessable Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) tumour biomarker levels had a reduction in PSA, with more than half of these patients achieving a reduction in PSA of around 50%, 83% of patients with secondary bone disease indicated either no progression or an improvement in these lesions and 56% of patients who were assessed for three measures had responses to all three.

The company says that these positive interim results are particularly significant given all patients in this cohort had late-stage prostate cancer and had failed multiple anti-cancer treatments (including taxanes), in addition to surgeries and radiation, prior to entering the DEP cabazitaxel trial.