Idaho Firm Ready To Test Cancer Drug

Idaho’s only pharmaceuticals company is seeking permission to test its new cancer-killing drug on people.

Gem Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boise has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve clinical testing of GPX-100, an improved version of Adriamycin. The tests could begin as early as next month.

Adriamycin is one of the drugs most commonly used in treating cancer, particularly breast cancer. It is an effective cancer-killer, but also can be toxic to the heart.

Dr. Richard Olson, a researcher at Boise’s Veterans Administration Medical Center, has spent more than 20 years developing GPX-100, a heart-friendly derivative of Adriamycin. Laboratory tests of GPX-100 on animals have not shown serious levels of toxicity.

“We’re hoping for approval by the middle of January,” Gem Pharmaceuticals President Fred Dechow said. “We would begin testing immediately after that.”

“These are significant steps forward in the treatment of cancer,” Dechow said.

Initial testing would involve about 20 patients at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Later tests could include Boise’s Mountain States Tumor Institute.