Lorus Therapeutics has filed an investigational new drug (IND) application with the US Food and Drug Administration for LOR-253, an anti-cancer drug candidate.

The application is for a first-in-human phase I dose escalation trial in advanced or metastatic solid tumours to assess antitumour activity, safety and tolerability in cancer patients.

The trial will be conducted at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, US.

Preclinical studies have demonstrated that the compound has selective and antitumour activity against colon and non-small cell lung cancer, and is less toxic.