Late-stage cancer patients who have exhausted their treatment options will have an opportunity to sign on for a clinical trial in Ann Arbor testing a new cancer drug developed at the University of Michigan.

Led by Saline resident Shaomeng Wang, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers developed a drug called AT-406, which holds the potential to treat multiple types of cancer.

According to a study published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry this week, laboratory studies showed AT-406 helps restore cancer cells’ normal life-and-death process, causing deadly tumors to shrink.

Explains Wang, the lead author on the study: “Tumor cells basically don’t know how to die, or don’t die fast enough. It’s the typical hallmark of cancer.”

Now, two clinical trials are enrolling cancer patients who have exhausted other treatment options.

The first trial is open to patients with solid tumors in almost any type of cancer, but not patients with blood cancer. It’s sponsored by Ascenta Therapeutics, Inc., a company Wang co-founded and in which he owns a share.

“This is for patients who have failed other treatment options,” he said. “They have no other option they can go on."

The University of Michigan Cancer Center, Duke University Medical Center and May Clinic are participating in the trial, which aims to evaluate the drug for safety and tolerability. Further clinical trials are planned to test how effectively the drug treats cancer, said Wang, a professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School.

A second Ascenta-sponsored safety trial testing AT-406 with other drugs for high-risk acute myeloid leukemia patients is also running at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center. This clinical trial will be conducted in Ann Arbor and at six other sites across the US.

In animal trials, the drug shrank tumors but caused no signs of toxcitity such as weight loss. Wang hopes the research translates to a new treatment option that’s easier to tolerate for patients than chemotherapy and radiation.

Juliana Keeping covers general assignment and health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter