CIPN explained
At OCT, we are looking to develop breakthrough therapies for debilitating conditions for which there is significant unmet medical need.
One such debilitating condition is chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). CIPN is a challenging complication arising from treatment with many commonly used anti- cancer agents which manifests itself as pain, numbness and tingling in the extremities. As a result of these painful symptoms, CIPN can necessitate a reduction in the dosage of chemotherapy or even for the course of treatment to be stopped before its intended completion; either of these outcomes risk having potentially significant adverse implications for the efficacy of oncological treatment and patient survival rates (Practical Pain Management 2023;23:e1).
CIPN is also much more widespread than many realise: it affects an estimated 60% of people undergoing chemotherapy after 3 months and can be regressive, enduring and, often, tragically irreversible. Around 30% of patients will still have CIPN a year, or more, after finishing chemotherapy, leading to many years of debilitating pain (PAIN 2019;160:p S1-S10).
People undergoing chemotherapy want and deserve help in alleviating these symptoms The reality is that, currently, there are sadly no licensed treatments for CIPN available.
In a recent paper published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2023;382:e071565) discussing advances in managing breast cancer survivors, the authors noted that “more information is needed to inform strategies used to prevent CIPN and methods to treat numbness/tingling”. It this lack of treatment options, therefore, that we are targeting.
At OCT, we have recently administered the final dose of our lead pharmaceutical drug compound, OCT461201, as part of our Phase I clinical trial, with no drug adverse effects observed. OCT461201 is targeting a first-in-class treatment for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and, assuming successful completion of this single-ascending-dose Phase I trial, we hope soon to advance the clinical trial process into a multiple-ascending- dose study and Phase II Clinical Trials.
We remain as excited as ever about the long-term potential of our research and ceaseless in our determination to find a solution that efficiently targets conditions affecting people living with CIPN.