Everfront Biotech’s Investigational product, Cerebraca® Wafer, has achieved significant progress in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of malignant brain tumors, and has been invited to speak at the Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons (ACNS).
Date: June 9, 2022
Dr. Shinn-Zong. Lin was invited by the President of the Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Professor Yoko Kato, to share the results of the phase I clinical trial via video conference
Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital collaborated with the neurosurgery team from Tri-Service General Hospital under the leadership of the Superintendent, Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin, to conduct the clinical trial of the new drug in development, Cerebraca® Wafer, for the treatment of malignant brain tumors. Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin was invited by Professor Yoko Kato, the president of the Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons, to share the results of the clinical phase one trial via video conference at 8:30 pm on June 8. The related video will also be released on online streaming platforms after the conference. https://www.youtube.com/c/Acnswebinars
The research results have been published in the international journal – Cancers. The article emphasizes the good safety profile of the participants in the Phase I trial (no brain swelling, wound healing, or brain-related adverse reactions), with an average survival of nearly 12 months. Even more exciting, the average survival in the group of participants receiving the highest dose of 6 Cerebraca® wafers is over 19 months. Dr. Lin, the hospital president, pointed out that based on the current market compatitors for the treatment of recurrent malignant brain tumors, first-line treatments such as Gliadel® wafer (average survival of 6.4 months), temozolomide (average survival of 5.8 months), and Avastin® (average survival of 9.3 months), Cerebraca® wafer has fully demonstrated its safety and efficacy in the current clinical trial stage.
The Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons (ACNS) was established in 1993 with the aim of enhancing the level of neurosurgical techniques in Asia and promoting the coordinated development of Asian neurosurgery. ACNS attracts more than 400 top international neurosurgeons and scholars to its annual conference, and in recent years, it has also held online conferences to continue the enthusiasm of doctors and scholars in actively saving the suffering, with over 200 online conferences held to date. During the pandemic, ACNS has connected the global neurosurgical research and development community through online platforms.
Currently, the Phase IIa trial of Cerebraca® Wafer for the treatment of recurrent malignant brain tumors is underway and recruiting patients at Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Tri-Service General Hospital, and Taichung Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan. According to Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin, the target population of the Cerebraca® Wafer clinical trial are patients with grade III or IV recurrent malignant brain tumors who receive Cerebraca® Wafer implantation after surgical tumor resection, followed by chemotherapy drug Temozolomide (TMZ) treatment. The aim is to use Cerebraca® Wafer for drug release to kill the residual malignant brain tumor cells after surgery, reduce chemotherapy drug resistance, and potentially suppress the expression of PD-L1 in malignant brain tumors to activate the immune cells in the anti-cancer battle.
Malignant tumors continue to top the list of the top ten causes of death for Taiwanese people. According to statistics from the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS), approximately 20,000 new cases of brain tumors are diagnosed each year, with about 400 new cases of malignant gliomas occurring annually in Taiwan. Among them, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly malignant primary brain tumor that can grow up to 16 times its original size within a month, and has a high recurrence rate after surgical removal, often requiring patients to repeatedly receive treatment in and out of the hospital. The current conventional treatments for malignant brain tumors, including surgical treatment, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, are extremely limited, and there is an urgent need for the development of new generation therapies.
Over a decade ago, Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin, along with a team including Professor Horng-Jyh Harn and Distinguished Professor Tzyy-Wen Chiou from Dong Hwa University, discovered that extract of Angelica sinensis (Danggui) could treat cancer, leading to the development of targeted anti-cancer drugs that can effectively treat malignant brain tumors, and more recently, a new drug for pancreatic cancer. Looking to the future, Dr. Lin said that the Hualien Tzu Chi Medical Center plans to establish a heavy ion center to care for residents of the remote eastern region, and to combine Western-targeted drugs, immunotherapy, oncolytic virus therapy, small-molecule drugs, and traditional Chinese medicine and herbal therapy, to become the last hope for cancer patients.
