9-ING-41 in Patients With Advanced Cancers

Description

9-ING-41 is a first-in-class, intravenously administered, maleimide-based small molecule potent selective GSK-3β inhibitor with significant pre-clinical antitumor activity. GSK-3 is a serine/threonine kinase initially described as a key regulator of metabolism and has a role in diverse disease processes including cancer, immune disorders, pathologic fibrosis, metabolic disorders, and neurological disorders. GSK-3 has two ubiquitously expressed and highly conserved isoforms, GSK-3α and GSK-3β, with both shared and distinct substrates and functional effects. GSK-3β is particularly important in tumor progression and modulation of oncogenes (including beta-catenin, cyclin D1 and c-Myc), cell cycle regulators (e.g. p27Kip1) and mediators of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (e.g. zinc finger protein SNAI1, Snail). Aberrant overexpression of GSK-3β has been shown to promote tumor growth and chemotherapy resistance in various solid tumors including colon, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers and glioblastoma through differential effects on the pro-survival nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and c-Myc pathways as well on tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and p53-mediated apoptotic mechanisms. GSK-3β helps maintain malignant cell survival and proliferation, particularly in terms of mediating resistance to standard anti-cancer therapies, through the NF-κB pathway. GSK-3β has been established as a potential anticancer target in human bladder, breast, colorectal, glioblastoma, lung, neuroblastoma, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, renal and thyroid cancers as well as chronic lymphocytic leukemia and lymphomas.

9-ING-41 is a small molecule potent selective GSK-3β inhibitor with broad spectrum pre-clinical antitumor activity. It's modes of action include downregulation of NF-κB and decreasing the expression NF-κB target genes including cyclin D1, Bcl-2, anti-apoptotic protein (XIAP) and B-cell lymphoma-extra large (Bcl-XL) leading to inhibition of tumor growth in multiple solid tumor cell and lymphoma lines and patient derived xenograft (PDX) models. NF-κB is constitutively active in cancer cells and promotes anti-apoptotic molecule expression. NF-κB activation is particularly important in cancer cells that have become chemo- and/or radio-resistant. 9-ING-41 also has significant activity in pre-clinical models of pathological pleural and pulmonary fibrosis. 9-ING-41 has significant in vitro and in vivo activity as a single agent and/or in combination with standard cytotoxic chemotherapies in a spectrum of solid tumors and hematological malignancies including bladder, breast, glioblastoma, neuroblastoma, pancreatic, sarcomas, and renal cancers as well as lymphomas.

The 1801 had three parts:

• Completed: Part 1 (9-ING-41 as monotherapy): The standard 3+3 dose escalation design will be applied to all dose cohorts until the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) or Recommended Phase 2 Dose (RP2D) is identified.
• Completed: 9-ING-41 combined with standard anticancer agents: The 3+3 dose escalation study design will be used for 8 chemotherapy combination regimens (9-ING-41 plus gemcitabine, doxorubicin, lomustine, carboplatin, irinotecan, nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine, paclitaxel plus carboplatin, pemetrexed plus carboplatin) to identify the MTD/RP2D of each regimen.
• Part 3: A randomized Phase 2 study of 9-ING-41 either once or twice weekly with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel (GA) versus GA alone for patients with previously untreated metastatic or locally advanced pancreatic cancer is now open.

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