Calando Doses First Patient in Phase I Cancer Study

Calando Pharmaceuticals, a majority-owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research, has announced that the first patient has successfully completed the first dosing cycle of CALAA-01 in the first clinical trial using systemically-delivered siRNA to treat cancer.

This open-label, dose-escalation Phase I study in patients with solid tumors which are refractory to standard-of-care therapies is being conducted at the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center in Los Angeles, California, and at South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics in San Antonio, Texas.

CALAA-01 is a targeted nanoparticle, comprised of a proprietary, non-chemically-modified siRNA against the M2 subunit of ribonucleotide reductase – a clinically-validated cancer target – formulated with Calando’s proprietary RONDEL (RNAi/Oligonucleotide Nanoparticle Delivery) polymer delivery system.

Jeremy Heidel, Calando CSO for siRNA delivery, said: “We look forward to the continued treatment of this patient and subsequent patients and the establishment of safety and efficacy profiles for CALAA-01 in humans.”