Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Announces Investigator-Sponsored Phase I/II Trial Evaluating Vosaroxin in Myelodysplastic Syndrome

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals SNSS today announced the initiation of a Phase I/II investigator-sponsored trial of vosaroxin, the company's lead product candidate, in adult patients with previously treated intermediate-2 or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The trial is being conducted at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York-Presbyterian Hospital under the direction of Gail J. Roboz, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Leukemia Program. "MDS remains a challenging disease in adult patients with few proven effective therapies," said Dr. Roboz. "As a result, there is an urgent need for new treatments for MDS patients who have progressed after front-line treatment. We look forward to studying vosaroxin in this setting." The Phase I/II, open-label, dose escalating trial is expected to enroll approximately up to 40 patients with MDS who have previously failed treatment with hypomethylating agent-based therapy. Patient cohorts will initially receive escalating doses of vosaroxin over each 28 day treatment cycle. Once the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) is determined, an expanded evaluation of safety and hematologic response or improvement rate at this dose level will be conducted in additional subjects, so that the total number of subjects exposed to this See full press release