A bladder cancer drug discovered and developed at The University of Kansas Cancer Center has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to advance to first in human clinical trials. Called Ciclopirox Prodrug, this is the first cancer drug discovered and developed at KU Cancer Center to move from the laboratory to bedside.

Bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the United States. It has the highest rate of recurrence among all cancers, as well as the highest lifetime treatment costs per patient. Current standard of treatment involves surgical removal and resection of the tumors and administering the chemotherapy drug via catheter which sloughs off the inner lining of the bladder. It has been several decades since a new treatment was introduced. Ciclopirox Prodrug will be administered intravenously and by injection.

Under an existing partnership agreement, the University of Kansas Medical Center licensed Ciclopirox Prodrug to CicloMed LLC, a subsidiary of Kansas City-based BioNOVUS Innovations LLC. This is the first product development and commercialization collaboration between CicloMed [PH1] and KU Cancer Center’s Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation.

KU Cancer Center is one of only 69 National Cancer Institute-designated centers in the United States. Centers with this designation are recognized for their scientific leadership, resources, and the depth and breadth of their research. KU Cancer Center’s experts span the spectrum of research from basic to translational to clinical.

In the video, Scott Weir, PharmD, PhD, director of the KU Cancer Center Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation, and John Taylor, MD, MS, director of basic urological research and co-leader of KU Cancer Center’s Drug Discovery, Development and Experimental Therapeutics research program, discuss current standard treatment for bladder cancer and how Ciclopirox Prodrug works and answers an unmet need for patients.