VG Life Sciences Inc. announced an update to its Physician-IND Phase I Study to test tolerability and toxicity of its patented technology in patients with advanced stage solid tumors. This study is being conducted at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio. The primary investigator is medical oncologist Tyler Curiel, M.D., MPH and is based on the research of Dr. M. Karen Newell-Rogers, PhD VG Life Sciences Inc.'s Chief Scientific Advisor.

The study, which is ongoing in patients with refractory or relapsed solid tumors, examines the safety and efficacy of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), in combination with sorafenib (marketed as Nexavar(R)), which was co-developed by Bayer AG and Onyx Pharmaceuticals. VG Life Sciences Inc. holds the use patent for this combination treatment. The study is reporting two clinical responses in cohort 3: disease stabilization in a patient with metastatic ovarian cancer for 4 months, and disease stabilization going into its fifth month in a patient with triple negative breast cancer.

Further test information and data will be forthcoming. The fourth and final cohort will begin in January which will increase the HCQ dosage from cohort 3. For procedural reasons the start of the final cohort was delayed as previously reported.