Drug developer Novogen Limited
(ASX:NRT) have shown that its TRXE-009 formulation can cross the blood brain barrier to progress treatments for brain cancer.
The Australian and US company says the blood brain barrier is a defence mechanism to keep toxins from the brain, but it also makes treatment of brain cancer very difficult.
Program Manager Eleanor Ager says the formulation killed a range of cancer types in the test tube and is particularly potent against brain cancers.
She says the next step is to confirm that the drug is effective against brain cancer cells growing in the brain.
CEO Graham Kelly says TRXE 009 is on its way into the clinic early next year in the form of the Trilexium cancer treatment which is focussed on melanoma and prostate cancer.
Novogen reported a net loss of $2.4 million in the first half of the 2015 financial year.