Athenex, Inc. announced encouraging preliminary efficacy and safety data of Oraxol in the treatment of breast cancer in a pharmacokinetics (PK) and Phase I/II clinical trial of 24 patients in Taiwan. Oraxol, an innovative development in the treatment of cancer, is a novel oral formulation of paclitaxel, an effective and commonly used chemotherapy treatment for many cancers, combined with HM30181A (a novel P-gp inhibitor). Among the first 12 evaluable patients, 50% had a partial response (>30% tumor shrinkage) and 50% had stable disease (all patients had tumor reduction, some up to 27%). There was no progressive disease. The follow-up time was only 2.6 months and such early response results are most encouraging. Grade 4 neutropenia was observed in 3 patients, all recovered completely with no patient death. There was no neuropathy.