Swedish biotechnology company Active Biotech AB (STO:ACTI) announced on Friday that the first patient has been dosed in the amended Phase Ib/II clinical study of tasquinimod in patients with myelofibrosis who are refractory to or ineligible for JAK2 inhibitor treatment.

The amended protocol introduces greater flexibility in the tasquinimod dosing regimen to support patient management and study execution.

Approved by the European Medicines Agency and relevant ethics committees, the protocol amendment incorporates dosing schedules informed by previous clinical studies, including the Phase III prostate cancer programme. The study evaluates tasquinimod as a monotherapy and is being conducted through the Stichting Haemato-Oncologie Volwassenen Nederland network across clinical centres in the Netherlands and Germany.

Active Biotech entered into a global patent licence agreement with Oncode Institute in February 2022, covering the development of tasquinimod in myelofibrosis. The current study is supported through Oncode Institute's Clinical Proof-of-Concept programme, which aims to accelerate the translation of innovative cancer research into clinical applications through collaboration between academia, clinical centres, and industry partners.