ASX Health Stocks: RAC says combining lead drug bisantrene with decitabine is effective on solid tumours

Race Oncology says bisantrene + decitabine effective

Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) jumped 8% this morning after sharing the results from recent preclinical studies conducted at Oncolines B.V. in the Netherlands.

In these studies, bisantrene (Race’s lead drug) was tested in combination with decitabine to enhance anticancer activity.

Results showed that bisantrene and decitabine used together have significantly improved cancer cell-killing across 143 tumour cell lines, than either drug used alone.

Combining decitabine with bisantrene at clinical doses significantly boosted cancer cell-killing, with 92% (131 out of 143) of the cell lines showing improvement.

These results suggest that using decitabine together with bisantrene could be a promising treatment for various cancers, including solid tumors like lung, prostate, pancreas, breast, and head and neck cancer.

Decitabine is an FDA-approved drug widely used to treat certain blood cancers like myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but it hasn’t been effective against solid tumours.

However, this study found that decitabine boosts the cancer cell-killing power of bisantrene across a wide range of common human cancers, including many solid tumours.

Race says it will now continue to critically evaluate all opportunities in this space from both a commercial and scientific perspective.

“These results open exciting new treatment opportunities for both bisantrene and decitabine,” said Race’s CEO, Dr Daniel Tillett.

Orthocell’s successful dental implant clinical study

Meanwhile, regenerative medicine company Orthocell(ASX: OCC) has shared the results from the Striate+ dental implant clinical study.

The study is crucial for re-certifying EU market approval under the new European Medical Device Regulations (MDR).

Results showed a 98.6% success rate for dental implant procedures using Orthocell’s Striate+ dental membrane for Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR).

The Striate+ study aimed to investigate the impact of the Striate+ collagen membrane on various factors related to patients and implant procedures after GBR and implant placement.

The results have now confirmed excellent bone formation and stability, demonstrated by the high treatment success rate.

The data will be submitted for presentation at the upcoming European Association for Osseintegration annual meeting on the 24-26 October.

Chief investigator of the study, Professor Giuseppe Luongo, said Striate+ is the best-in-class dental membrane that facilitates the highest quality bone and tissue repair.

“Predictable and high-quality bone regeneration is of utmost importance to deliver functional and aesthetically pleasing outcomes for patients. We are delighted to share this compelling real-world data,” he said.