Professor Kim Hyun-sook at Cha Bundang Medical Center presented the preliminary results of the safety and pharmacokinetics of glioblastoma treatment, OKN-007, at the annual conference of the U.S. Society for Neuro-Oncology.

In the study, Professor Kim administered OKN-007 to patients who received radiation therapy and temozolomide after being diagnosed with glioblastoma.

Kim divided five patients into two groups according to the number of administration of OKN-007 and confirmed safety in the first group. She is recruiting more patients to confirm drug safety in the remaining group and 25 additional participants to find the maximum effective dose.

Glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer in glial cells and has the highest fatality among the malignant brain tumors. Radiation therapy and temozolomide are used as standard treatments for brain tumors, but therapeutic effects are hard to expect due to drug resistance.

Professor Kim confirmed the therapeutic effect of OKN-007, even when patients have developed resistance to temozolomide by increasing susceptibility to chemotherapy.

“Glioblastoma, which accounts for about 12 to 15 percent of all brain tumors, has an average survival period of only 14 months after receiving surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, calling for the urgent development of a new treatment,” Kim said.

She added that OKN-007, designated as an orphan drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August, is expected to be an innovative drug by expanding indications to solid and rare cancers.

GtreeBNT, a local biotech company that developed OKN-007 and led the clinical trials, performs various studies on glioma.

Under FDA approval, the company is also conducting phase 2 trials of combined therapy using OKN-007 and temozolomide for patients with recurrent glioblastoma at six U.S. hospitals specializing in cancers, including Wake Forest Hospital and Henry Ford Hospital.