29 Sep 2026 CP-506 shrinks tumours in patients who had run out of options: first clinical results from TUMAGNOSTIC
Convert Pharmaceuticals has shared the first clinical results for CP-506, its lead drug candidate. The data come from the ongoing Phase I TUMAGNOSTIC trial (NCT04954599). They show that CP-506 is well tolerated and can shrink tumours in patients who had no treatment options left.
CP-506 is a hypoxia-activated prodrug. It stays inactive as it travels through the body. It only switches on in the low-oxygen (hypoxic) regions of a tumour. These regions hold some of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant cancer cells.
Key results so far
- Safety: no dose-limiting toxicity across the first four dose levels.
- Mechanism confirmed in humans: the active form of the drug circulates at about 1/70th of the prodrug level. This supports activation inside the tumour rather than in healthy tissue.
- Longer exposure: an elimination half-life of 5.6 hours, substantially longer than earlier hypoxia-activated prodrugs.
- Early signs of benefit: patients with pancreatic, head and neck, and breast cancer reached stable disease. Exploratory volume measurements showed tumour reductions of 49% and 25% (pancreatic, dose level 4), 37% (head and neck) and 11% (breast, dose level 3).
All patients in the trial had already exhausted the available treatments.
A new way to reach the tumour core
“For decades, cancer treatment has faced a difficult trade-off: exposing the whole body to a drug while trying to kill cancer cells deep inside a tumour. CP-506 is designed to change that equation,” said Prof. Dr. Philippe Lambin, Founder and CEO of Convert Pharmaceuticals.
The results also drew attention from outside the company. “Hypoxia has resisted every attempt to drug it for decades. Convert appears to have solved that,” said Dr. Antonin de Fougerolles, founding Chief Scientific Officer of Moderna and former CSO of Ablynx Therapeutics.
The road ahead
- Dose escalation continues. The remaining dose levels are expected to roughly double exposure to CP-506.
- The protocol includes Phase IIa arms that combine CP-506 with carboplatin and with checkpoint inhibitors.
- Convert will keep reporting progress as the trial advances.
These results build on the milestones shared in our June 2026 update on TUMAGNOSTIC.
Read the full press release on BioPharma Dive.
About and contact
About Convert Pharmaceuticals
Convert Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in Liège, Belgium. It develops prodrugs that are activated within the tumour microenvironment, with the aim of making hypoxia-targeted therapy a new pillar of cancer treatment.
Contact
Convert Pharmaceuticals SA Esplanade Simone Veil 1, 4000 Liège, Belgium
info@convertpharma.com