Somanta Pharmaceuticals

Somanta Pharmaceuticals is a company focused on the development of novel oncology compounds and anti-cancer agents. Somanta's lead clinical product Sodium Phenylbutyrate (PB) is currently in Phase 2 development. In National Institute of Health sponsored trials, PB has demonstrated the greatest activity in CNS cancers, several of which are "orphan"... indications such as Glioblastoma Multiforme. Moreover, promising data has also emerged which suggests PB may be an effective therapy for certain blood cancers and other solid tumors. PB has been well tolerated; its safety profile has generally been established due to its many years of clinical use in pediatrics for inherited urea cycle disorders. Somanta's other drug candidates include Alchemix, Prodrax and Angiolix. Alchemix is pan-target inhibitor that is effective in tumor cells resistant to conventional chemotherapy by targeting and irreversibly binding to DNA. Prodrax, a technology platform, is a novel family of prodrugs that enables compounds to remain inert until they reach the hypoxic region of tumors where they become toxic, thus targeting tumor cells which are typically difficult to kill. Somanta believes Alchemix and Prodrax have the ability to overcome many different pathways of drug resistance, and will be studied in a broad range of cancers including lung, colon, ovarian and renal. Proof-of-principle pre- clinical studies have been completed in both of these compounds, and Phase 1 dose escalation trials are being planned. Additionally, Somanta is developing a humanized monoclonal antibody, Angiolix, which appears to induce cell death selectively to tumor blood vessels using a different mode of action than VEGF- oriented therapies. Somanta has prepared clinical development plans for all preclinical projects.Read More