PharmaCyte Biotech is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing targeted cellular therapies for cancer and diabetes using its “Cell-in-a-Box” live-cell encapsulation technology.
The virtual company – which outsources nearly all of its activities – believes the technology could change the way solid cancer tumors are treated.
The company this week announced that it has selected the contract research organization (CRO) Medpace to conduct its Phase IIb clinical trial in locally advanced, non-metastatic, inoperable pancreatic cancer (LAPC).
The clinical trial is expected to run somewhere between $15 and $17m, PharmaCyte’s CEO Kenneth Waggoner previously told us.
Read more: With Ph IIb trials planned, PharmaCyte looks to revolutionize cancer treatment
Waggoner said in a press release: “Although we considered several outstanding CRO candidates, we felt that Medpace was the ideal choice to be our CRO as the team at Medpace provides experience and a range of services to conduct virtually every aspect of our Phase 2II clinical trial in LAPC.”
Dr. Linda Sher, PharmaCyte chief medical officer, and Dr. Manuel Hidalgo, the trial’s principal investigator, led the selection process, which the company called “both laborious and time-consuming.”
The process included an initial screening of 10 CROs, a group reduced to eight before further examination led PharmaCyte to its top four candidates.
These four CROs were sent a request for proposal (RFP) and interviews were conducted over the phone. After an in-depth analysis, the final two were interviewed in person before a final decision was made.
The trial in pancreatic cancer will be conducted in the US. In the future, cancer trials will also be done in European countries, such as Germany, Spain, Sweden, and England, potentially among others.
