Every year approximately 185,000 pancreatic cancer cases are diagnosed in the US and Europe, yet metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment is still a high unmet medical need. Rapid progression of the diseases has resulted in various clinical trials and research studies being conducted on a global level. ERYTECH Pharma is one such biopharmaceutical company, which recently announced the publication of its Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer-based research in the European Journal of Cancer. ERYTECH Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and is involved in developing innovative red blood cell-based therapies for orphan diseases and cancer. Eryaspase is the companys flagship product candidate, which is currently in Phase 3 of clinical development. The results of the Phase 2b trial assessed eryaspase as a second line of treatment along with chemotherapy in 141 metastatic pancreatic cancer affected people. The Phase 2b clinical trial investigated the results of addition of eryaspase to mFOLFOX chemotherapy. The results of the same were compared with chemotherapy alone in a 2-to-1 randomization. Chemotherapy along with eryaspase resulted in significant extension of both Overall Survival (OS) and Progression Free Survival (PFS) in patients. It also resulted in a 40% reduction in the risk of death, and reduced risk of disease progression up to 44% on average. Also, no substantial contribution to the toxicity of chemotherapy was found. Very limited options are available for the diseases, which has prompted ERYTECH to develop an innovative therapy for the same. So far, this is the only Phase 2b study investigating the role of an asparaginase in pancreatic cancer. Chief Medical Officer of ERYTECH, Dr. Iman El-Hariry was reportedly quoted saying that the company is highly encouraged by the support extended by the medical community and their participation in the clinical trial. Principal Investigator Professor Pascal Hammel was further quoted saying that they were grateful for the selection of their study for publication and look forward to confirming the results of the Phase 2b study in the ongoing Phase 3 study, which is currently underway. Source credit: https://erytech.com/wp-content/uploads/ERYTECH_PR_Graspanc_Phase2B_Publication_EN_VF-2.pdf