Alessa Therapeutics Announces Enolen Phase 1 Study Presentation Receives 'Best Poster' Award at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting
The results of the study, entitled “A Phase 1 Safety, PK and Preliminary Efficacy Study of Localized Therapy Using Enolen (Enzalutamide) Implants for Early-Stage Prostate Cancer” were presented by Braden Millan, M.D., MSc, FRCSC, a urologic oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), as part of a poster session given on May 16th, 2026. The principal investigator of the study was Peter Pinto, M.D., Chief, Prostate Cancer Division at the NCI. The poster was among a select group chosen for recognition from more than 2,500 presentations given at this year’s meeting.
Among the key findings from the Phase 1 trial featured in the presentation were that all 20 patients enrolled in Cohort A of Enolen’s Phase 1 trial were successfully implanted. These implantations achieved very high intraprostatic enzalutamide levels with minimal systemic drug exposure and resulted in no delay to surgery. Furthermore, pre-prostatectomy MRI’s conducted for 20 patients showed a reduction in tumor volume in 86% of the lesions over an average duration of 36 days. There were no reported effects on testosterone levels or negative effects on sexual function. Reported side effects were consistent with a biopsy-like procedure, and without impact on future surgery or imaging.
“We are honored to receive this recognition and consider it an indication of both the outstanding research conducted by Dr. Pinto and his colleagues at the NCI as well as the significance of the study findings,” said Pamela Munster, M.D., Chief Scientific Advisor and founder of Alessa. “This is the first study to demonstrate that enzalutamide can be safely and locally administered to the prostate via sustained drug eluting implants, a major milestone in prostate cancer treatment research, and we look forward to sharing updates on our progress with the two additional cohorts underway in this Phase 1 trial.”
About Enolen®
Enolen leverages Alessa’s proprietary local delivery technology which can deliver anti-androgens directly to diseased tissue in the prostate. This localized delivery can help eliminate the side effects of systemic anti-androgen and testosterone-lowering drugs, including fatigue, sexual dysfunction, muscle mass loss, cognitive issues, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular events.
Preclinical and clinical studies to date demonstrate that Alessa’s implant technology can deliver durable and continuous release of effective anti-cancer agents, achieving high local drug concentrations while minimizing the negative side effects which can result from systemic exposure.
Enolen is currently being studied in a Phase 1/1b trial evaluating its safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy for localized sustained delivery of enzalutamide into the prostate in men with localized prostate cancer undergoing prostatectomy.
Enolen recently received Fast Track designation by the U.S. FDA, which is granted to products that are developed to treat serious or life-threatening conditions and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs. The designation is intended to facilitate development and expedite review of qualifying drugs.
About Alessa Therapeutics
Alessa Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a proprietary drug-delivery technology platform for the sustained and localized release of clinically proven prostate cancer therapies. Developed by Dr. Pamela Munster and her team at the University of California, San Francisco, Alessa’s patented drug-eluting implants, each about the size of a grain of rice, can provide two or more years of continuous drug elution directly to diseased tissue, thus eliminating the side effects that can result from systemic exposure to certain prostate cancer drugs. Founded in 2018, Alessa is backed by leading healthcare investors including Cure Ventures and Mission BioCapital. Learn more at alessatherapeutics.com.
Rachel Ford Hutman
Ford Hutnam Media
+1 (301) 801-5540
email us here
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
