A DUNDEE life sciences firm has announced favourable results for trials of a cancer drug that has been shown to help reduce tumour sizes.

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals’ preclinical results were published in the July issue of the journal, Clinical Cancer Research.

Seliciclib is one of Cyclacel’s lead products and is in two Phase II trials for non small lung cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer with results due at the end of this year.

The product is also in a Phase I combination study with cancer treatment drug Traceva in Spain.

Cyclacel see this drug as a combination drug.

When given in combination with on the market cancer drugs Traceva or Herceptin, it improves the reduction of tumour size, more than if either Traceva or Herceptin were given alone.

In these studies, the combination of Seliciclib and Tarceva resulted in a 93% tumour growth inhibition by the 49th day of treatment.

“Seliciclib’s potential as an important regulator of cell pathways is becoming increasingly evident,” said Greg Reyes, Cyclacel’s senior vice-president, research.

The company is worth approximately $40m and the results of two Phase II studies for Seliciclib and another two Phase II trials for its other lead product Sapacitabine are due at the end of this year.

Cyclacel was founded in 1996 by Professor Sir David Lane of Dundee University, a recognised leader in the field of tumour suppressor biology, who discovered the p53 protein.

Cyclacel’s corporate headquarters are in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, but Dundee is the main location of the company’s structure-based drug design and preclinical activities.