Posted on: 12/02/2011

Novocure™ Establishes Initial Clinical Centers of Excellence for Treatment of

Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme with Tumor Treating Fields

(TTFields)™ Therapy

 

Four clinical sites in the U.S. have completed required training and are certified to provide novel therapy

to patients using the NovoTTF-100A System™; three additional clinical sites planned by year end

 

PORTSMOUTH, NH – December 2 – Novocure™, a commercial stage private oncology

company, has announced that prominent neuro-oncologists at four clinical centers in the U.S.

will be the first to provide access to its Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields)™ device, NovoTTF-

100A System™, for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). GBM is a

deadly brain tumor affecting approximately 10,000 Americans each year.

The NovoTTF™ device, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in April 2011, will be

available for prescription use in the U.S. initially through several noted brain cancer research

centers whose staff have completed training in the use of this unique device. The neurooncologists

and their centers are:

• Dr. Eric T. Wong, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts

• Dr. Jay-Jiguang Zhu, Mischer Neuroscience Institute in the Memorial Hermann Hospital

and The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas

• Dr. Joseph Landolfi, New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK, Edison, New Jersey

• Dr. Herbert Engelhard, University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, Illinois

Novocure expects to train the following clinicians and their staff at the following clinical sites by

year end:

• Dr. Andrew Lassman, Columbia University Medical Center at New York – Presbyterian

Hospital, New York, New York

• Dr. Lisa DeAngelis, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

• Dr. Santosh Kesari, University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center, San

Diego, California

“We are pleased to be working closely with these prestigious clinicians and their clinical staff to

provide GBM patients with an effective treatment option, and one which does not have the usual

debilitating side effects of traditional chemotherapy,” said Gabriel Leung, Novocure’s Chairman

of Global Commercialization. “The clinical staff at these centers have mastered the training and

received the certification needed to provide the Novocure TTF therapy to patients. We recognize

and appreciate the time and effort dedicated by these individuals to ensure their patients have

access to this new treatment.”

GBM is the most aggressive and most common form of primary brain tumor in the U.S. The

disease affects approximately 10,000 Americans each year. The median overall survival time

from initial diagnosis is 15 months with optimal treatment, and median survival from the time of

tumor recurrence is only 3-5 months without additional effective treatment. The disease is

widely recognized as one of the most aggressive and deadly forms of cancer.

TTF therapy, a novel platform technology for the treatment of solid tumors, provides physicians

with a fourth treatment modality for cancer in addition to surgery, radiation therapy and

chemotherapy.

TTF therapy has been shown in vitro and in vivo to effectively inhibit tumor growth by inducing

cell death. TTF takes advantage of the electrical characteristics, geometrical shape and

replication rate of dividing cancer cells – all of which makes them susceptible to the effects of

alternating electric fields. TTF therapy is delivered using non-invasive, insulated transducer

arrays that are placed directly on the skin in the region of the tumor. TTF therapy does not

deliver any electric current to the tissue; it does not stimulate nerves or muscles or heat the

tissue. It creates an artificial, alternating electric field within the tumor which disrupts cancer

cell division and can cause complete destruction of the dividing cancer cells.

About the NovoTTF-100A System

NovoTTF-100A System is a portable, non-invasive medical device designed for continuous use

throughout the day by the patient. The device has been shown in in vitro and in vivo studies to

slow and reverse tumor growth by inhibiting mitosis, the process by which cells divide and

replicate. The NovoTTF-100A device, which weighs about six pounds (three kilograms), creates

a low intensity, alternating electric field within the tumor that exerts physical forces on

electrically charged cellular components, preventing the normal mitotic process and causing

cancer cell death prior to division. In patients with recurrent glioblastoma brain tumors, the

device has shown clinical efficacy comparable to that of active chemotherapies with better

quality of life without many of the side effects of chemotherapy. The most commonly reported

side effect from NovoTTF treatment was a mild-to-moderate rash beneath the electrodes. The

NovoTTF-100A has received marketing approval in the U.S. and is a CE Marked device that is

cleared for sale in Europe.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the NovoTTF-100A System for use

as a treatment for adult patients (22 years of age or older) with histologically-confirmed

glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), following histologically – or radiologically-confirmed

recurrence in the supra-tentorial region of the brain after receiving chemotherapy. The device is

intended to be used as monotherapy, and is intended as an alternative to standard medical therapy

for GBM after surgical and radiation options have been exhausted.

Patients should only use the NovoTTF-100A System under the supervision of a physician

properly trained in use of the device.

About Novocure

Novocure Limited is a private oncology company pioneering a novel therapy for solid tumors.

Novocure’s worldwide headquarters is located in the Jersey Isle. Novocure’s U.S. operations are

based in Portsmouth, NH and the company’s research center is located in Haifa, Israel. For

additional information about the company, please visit www.novocure.com

Media contact:

Frank Leonard

frank@novocure.com

(215) 854-4095

 


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