Ongoing Analyses Of Randomized Phase 2/3 ATC Data, Including Subgroup Analyses, Continue To Show ZYBRESTAT(TM) (CA4P) Improves Overall Survival In Patients With Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer (ATC)

Additional Data Show Survival Benefit in Both Pre-Treated (Surgery, Radiation, Chemotherapy) as well as Previously Untreated Patients Overall Survival Was Significantly Longer in Patients Less Than or Equal to 60 years of Age, Increasing From a Median of 3.1 to 10.9 Months

SOUTH SAN FRANSISCO, Calif., Oct. 11, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OXiGENE, (Nasdaq:OXGN), a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics to treat cancer and eye diseases, announced that an ongoing analysis of positive results reported earlier from a randomized, controlled, Phase 2/3 study of ZYBRESTAT (fosbretabulin, CA4P) were presented today at the 35th European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Milan, Italy by Julie Ann Sosa, M.D., F.A.C.S., of Yale University. This analysis strengthens previous findings showing that ZYBRESTAT in combination with chemotherapy improved the overall survival (OS) of patients in the study and suggests meaningful survival benefit in multiple subgroups of patients, including patients who were heavily pretreated with surgery, radiation or chemotherapy as well as patients less than 60 years of age.

The FACT trial is the largest study ever conducted in patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer, and has yielded additional insights about the ATC patient population and how ATC is currently being treated. Patients participating in the FACT study had a median age of approximately 61 years of age, which is consistent with earlier studies of ZYBRESTAT in ATC. The FACT study also confirmed that unlike other thyroid cancer patients, most ATC patients have metastatic disease and are treated surgically, not with chemotherapy and radiation.  

"These study results show that if approved, ZYBRESTAT could become a valuable treatment option for many ATC patients for whom there are no alternative approved therapies," said Dr. Sosa. "That ZYBRESTAT appears to significantly improve the survival of younger patients with larger or more advanced tumors is critically important, as these tumors have historically been most resistant to treatment with chemotherapy."