Clinical stage oncology company Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX)...

Clinical stage oncology company Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) has boosted its intellectual property with the grant of two U.S. patents to protect its PTX-200 treatment for cancer.

Two Phase 1b/2 trials of PTX-200 are currently underway in the U.S. in patients with breast and ovarian cancers.

The first patent covers Prescient’s method for treating patients with tumours that overexpress AKT kinase, a key molecule in the oncogenic AKT signalling pathway. 

Its second covers a proprietary method for identifying and treating a cancer patient with enhanced sensitivity to PTX-200 through a direct measurement of AKT levels in the patient’s tumour.

This patent further strengthens Prescient’s focus on “personalised medicine” whereby patients are selected based on their tumour blueprint and treated with a specific drug that targets such a blueprint, increasing the likelihood that a patient will respond to the drug.

PTX-200 is a small molecule that works by blocking the AKT pathway and inhibiting tumour growth.

High AKT expression is associated with a poor prognosis, resistance to chemotherapy and shortened survival times in a range of cancers.

Prescient had $1.04 million in cash as at 30th June 2015.