Galectin announces IND filed to study GR-MD-02 in combination with Yervoy
Galectin Therapeutics announced that Providence Portland Medical Center filed an Investigational New Drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on December 27, 2013 to study GR-MD-02 in combination with Yervoy in a Phase 1B study of patients with metastatic melanoma. The application was prompted by findings from a preclinical study led by William Redmond of the Providence Portland Medical Center's Earle A. Chiles Research Institute. The preclinical study found that GR-MD-02 increased tumor shrinkage and enhanced survival in immune competent mice with prostate and breast cancers when combined with one of the immune checkpoint inhibitors, anti-CTLA-4 or anti-PD-1. These findings suggest a role for GR-MD-02 in cancer immunotherapy.