Valion Bio (NASDAQ: VBIO) has announced a major clinical development milestone with the finalization of a clinical trial protocol at Sheba Medical Center, one of the world’s leading hospitals, to evaluate Entolimod in cancer patients receiving high doses of irradiation for a rare form of cancer.
Under the collaboration, Sheba will self-fund and conduct the clinical trial, while Valion will provide the investigational drug.
According to Valion’s press release, this study may lead to the expanded clinical use of Entolimod beyond acute radiation syndrome (ARS) to also include radiation-induced neutropenia and supportive oncology care, representing a potentially substantial commercial opportunity boost for its lead candidate.
In a statement, Michael K. Handley, president and CEO of Valion, commented, “This is a major value-creation milestone for Valion Bio and our shareholders. One of the world’s premier hospitals and research centers recognized the potential of Entolimod and approached us to conduct this study. Their willingness to invest their own resources to evaluate Entolimod represents meaningful external validation of our science.”
“More importantly, this collaboration could expand Entolimod beyond biodefense into the multi-billion-dollar supportive oncology market. If successful, Entolimod has the potential to become an important therapy for reducing radiation-induced neutropenia and protecting healthy tissue during cancer treatment, creating a second and potentially much larger commercial opportunity for our lead drug,” he added.
