Ferring Pharmaceuticals (Germany)

232 Background: In addition to the radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy, androgen deprivation therapies (ADT) have been established as a therapy option in patients with high-risk localized and metastatic prostate cancer (PCa). ADT was found to be associated with a higher risk for cardiovascular (CV) events. This retrospective claims-based study investigated whether CV event rates differ following initiation of ADT with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists or antagonists and PCa patients not treated with ADT. Methods: Analyses were based on claims data from the research database of the Health Risk Institute. Eligibility criteria included a PCa diagnosis between 2009 and 2013 and the initiation of ADT with GnRH agonists or antagonists or no ADT during follow up. Outcomes of interest included a composite endpoint of myocardial infarction (MI) or ischemic stroke (IS) as well as the occurrence of a CV event. The latter included MI, sequelae of cerebrovascular disease, IS, intracerebral hemorrhage, pulmonary embolism, phlebitis/thrombophlebitis, transient cerebral ischemic attacks and occlusion/stenosis of cerebral arteries. Results: ADT patients suffered from more comorbidities, were older, and were more likely to suffer from CV conditions than patients with no ADT during baseline. Patients treated with GnRH agonists and antagonists were comparable in terms of mean age and burden of comorbidities. The raw event rates for MI/IS and for CV events during follow up were higher in ADT patients than in patients without ADT (Table 1). Patients treated with GnRH agonists suffered more often from a CV event during follow-up than patients treated with antagonists. Conclusions: Our results indicate that ADT with GnRH antagonists is associated with fewer CV events in PCa patients than treatment with GnRH agonists. The results confirm findings from a pooled analysis of six phase III randomized controlled trials (Albertsen P. et al: Eur Urol 65 (2014) 565-573.). [Table: see text]

Preclinical in-vivo characterization of a newly developed MR contrast medium consisting of very small superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (VSOP) coated with citrate (VSOP-C184). VSOP-C184 (core diameter: 4 nm; total diameter: 8.6 nm; relaxivities in water at 0.94 T (T1) 20.1 and (T2) 37.1 l/[mmol*sec]) was investigated to determine its pharmacokinetics, efficacy, acute single dose toxicity, repeated dose toxicity, and genotoxicity. The plasma elimination half-life at 0.045 mmol Fe/kg was 21.3 +/- 5.5 minutes in rats and 36.1 +/- 4.2 minutes in pigs, resulting in a T1-relaxation time of plasma of < 100 milliseconds for 30 minutes in pigs. The particles are mainly cleared via the phagocytosing system of the liver. MR angiography at a dose of 0.045 mmol Fe/kg shows an excellent depiction of the thoracic and abdominal vasculature in rats and of the coronary arteries in pigs. The LD50 in mice is > 17.9 mmol Fe/kg. A good tolerance and safety profile was found. The experiments indicate, that VSOP-C184 may be a well tolerated and safe contrast medium for MR imaging that can be effectively used for MR angiography including visualization of the coronary arteries.

Potent GnRH agonist analogs are used for the “medical castration” of patients with prostatic carcinoma. The purpose of the present study was to obtain information on the release characteristics and the effectiveness of a sustained-release (SR) formulation of D-Trp6-GnRH [11 in patients.