Aeterna Zentaris'
Maybe. This was only phase 1 data after all.
The purpose of the phase 1 prostate cancer trial is to figure out the right dose of AEZS-108 to use, but the efficacy data doesn't look too shabby. Half of the patients saw their PSA -- a measure of the severity of the prostate cancer -- go down, and out of the four patients with radiologic disease that could be evaluated, three showed signs of stable disease.
Of course, with any phase 1 trial, you have to keep this in perspective. It's only 10 patients. A lot can happen between now and a phase 3 trial with hundreds.
And even if AEZS-108 gets to the market in a few years, there's plenty of competition ahead of it. The phase 1 trial tested patients with castration and taxane-resistant prostate cancer. Assuming Aeterna Zentaris sticks with that patient population, AEZS-108 wouldn't have to compete with Dendreon's
Not that competition in the prostate cancer space a few years from now should be investors' biggest worry. Getting perifosine approved by marketing partner Keryx Biopharmaceuticals