Safety, Tolerability, PK/PD of FE 203799 in Adults With Lymphomas

RATIONALE: The integrity of the intestinal mucosa is a key factor for the preservation of a normal gut function. Damage of the epithelium (i.e. by chemotherapy) results in significant cellular and molecular alterations that ultimately lead to intestinal dysfunction/failure. This intestinal dysfunction manifests as several pathological processes, such as inability to absorb nutrients, intestinal inflammation, immune system dysregulation, and disequilibrium of normal intestinal microbiota leading to increased risk of infection due to bacterial translocation and septicaemia. Gastrointestinal (GI) mucositis is a well-known, frequent and debilitating side effect of most anticancer regimens with a very high incidence in hemato-oncology. The most common symptoms are nausea, vomiting, weight loss, abdominal cramps and pain, diarrhea, and electrolyte imbalance. Patients may also experience ulceration/bleeding and injury of the lining of the entire gastrointestinal tract from the esophagus to the colon. Currently no therapy is available for the prevention or treatment of GI intestinal injury. Treatment of related symptoms is limited to supportive measures to decrease diarrhea and to preventive antibiotic therapy. The GLP-2 analogue, FE 203799, has a favorable pharmacology profile for clinical development in the intended therapeutic indication of myeloablative chemotherapy-induced GI damage. The data collected from animal studies has shown that FE 203799 stimulates the proliferation of the intestinal epithelium and protects the GI mucosa from chemotherapy-induced injury. Hence, the primary pharmacologic activity of FE 203799 would promote a healthy GI microenvironment, thus preventing intestinal dysfunction and related complications. PURPOSE: Prevention by FE 203799 of chemotherapy-induced intestinal damage and related complications in patients with lymphoma receiving Melphalan based (BEAM) myeloablative conditioning regimen followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantatio