(Alliance News) - Midatech Pharma Plc announced on Monday it enrolled the first patient into its Phase 1 study of MTX110 for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University in the US.

Midatech Pharma Plc is an R&D biotechnology company based in Cardiff, Wales, and focuses on improving the bio-delivery and biodistribution of medicines.

The company said glioblastoma is the most common and devastating primary malignant brain tumour in adults, and MTX110 is a water-soluble form of panobinostat-free base that enables convection-enhanced delivery at potentially chemotherapeutic doses directly to the site of the tumour.

The Phase I study is an open-label, dose escalation study which Midatech Pharma said is designed to assess the feasibility and safety of intermittent infusions of MTX110 administered by convection-enhanced delivery via implanted refillable pump and catheter.

The study aims to recruit two cohorts, each with a minimum of four patients. The first cohort will receive MTX110 only and the second cohort will receive MTX110 in combination with lomustine.

Midatech had previously reported "encouraging" results from a Phase I study of MTX110 in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma conducted by University of California, San Francisco, with an additional Phase I study of MTX110 in DIPG conducted by Columbia University in New York expected to report shortly.

Dmitry Zamoryakhin, chief scientific officer of Midatech, said: "rGB is a devastating and incurable cancer marked by short survival rates and universal recurrence. A start of recruitment into the MAGIC-G1 study marks a significant step towards developing a potential new treatment paradigm for patients with this devastating disease that currently has limited effective treatment options."

Annick Desjardins, professor of neurosurgery and neurology at Duke University and study's principal investigator, added: "We are excited to be a leading centre for the MAGIC-G1 study that is looking to overcome the limited penetration of panobinostat through the blood-brain barrier by its direct administration into the tumour, thus also potentially avoiding systemic toxicity."

Midatech Pharma shares were down 0.8% to 6.00 on Monday afternoon in London.

By Jaskeet Briah; jaskeetbriah@alliancenews.com

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