Maybe we are about to have another new treatment for advanced prostate cancer that will earn the coveted descriptor, “ON THE HORIZON.” OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OGXI) has said that they will be presenting preliminary data from their phase 2 trials evaluating their investigational compound OGX-427, in prostate and bladder cancer. The data will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology ( ASCO) 2012 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium which will be held on February 2-4, in San Francisco.

OGX-427 is a novel compound designed to reduce levels of Heat Shock Protein 27 (Hsp27) – a cell-survival protein expressed in many types of cancers including prostate, bladder, breast and non-small cell lung cancer. Over expression of Hsp27 is believed to be an important factor leading to the development of treatment resistance and is associated with negative clinical outcomes in patients with various tumor types, including men with advanced prostate cancer.

The trial was a randomized Phase 2 study of OGX-427 plus prednisone versus prednisone alone in men with advanced prostate cancer who were also chemotherapy-naïve.

• The data will be presented by the study’s principal investigator, Dr. Kim Chi, medical oncologist from British Columbia Cancer Agency. The data will be presented as Abstract # 121 in the General Poster Session B on Feb. 2, 2012.

• OncoGenex also stated that it will host an investigator panel to review the preliminary OGX-427 data and the on-going development program for the compound on February 2, 2012 at 6:35 p.m. P.T. at the conference. The event will also be made available via live webcast. To access the event, log on to the Investor Relations page of the OncoGenex website at www.oncogenex.com. A replay will be made available for approximately 90 days following the event.

Joel T Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.