ALDERLEY PARK: Redx Pharma, the clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel, small molecule, highly targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and fibrotic disease, announced that its poster at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting will be available for viewing from today.
A formal presentation of the poster by the authors will be made at the conference on 12 April.
RXC004, a highly potent and selective, orally active once-daily Porcupine inhibitor, is being developed as a targeted therapy for Wnt-ligand driven cancer. It is currently being evaluated as monotherapy in Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trials in genetically selected patients with pancreatic cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer and in unselected patients with biliary cancer.
Additionally, RXC004 is in a Phase 1 combination study with nivolumab, an anti-PD-1 antibody from which a dose for the combination arm of the Phase will be selected this year. Data readouts from the Phase 2 studies are expected in 2023.
The poster presented at the AACR meeting and entitled ‘Pre-clinical efficacy of the Wnt pathway inhibitor RXC004 in combination with anti-cancer therapies’ describes preclinical data which demonstrate that RXC004 in combination with clinically relevant standard of care chemotherapy regimens could lead to potential benefit, including survival, over chemotherapy alone.
The poster hypothesised that the RXC004-induced downregulation of DNA repair pathway genes observed in vitro could contribute to the beneficial effect seen in combination with a PARP inhibitor in vitro as well as the combination effect observed in vivo with the standard of care chemotherapy agents.
Dr Jane Robertson, Chief Medical Officer, Redx Pharma, said: “This preclinical data further underpins our excitement around the therapeutic potential of RXC004, and the role of effective Wnt pathway blockade, in tackling a number of difficult to treat cancers with high unmet need.”
RXC004, a highly potent and selective, orally active once-daily Porcupine inhibitor is being developed as a targeted therapy for Wnt-ligand driven cancer. Aberrant Wnt signalling contributes directly to tumour growth and plays an important role in immune evasion, which has also been linked to resistance to immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) such as nivolumab. RXC004 has the potential to both directly inhibit the tumour growth and have an immune-enhancing effect in patients with tumours that have high Wnt-ligand dependency, such as tumours with mutations in the RNF43 gene and fusions in the RSPO gene family.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) such as anti-PD-1 antibodies have revolutionised the treatment of cancer, but do not work in all patients. Wnt pathway activation can enhance the ability of the tumour to evade destruction by the immune system and has been linked to lack of response to ICIs in these tumours. Our scientists have demonstrated preclinically that RXC004 can block activation of the Wnt pathway and restore the ability of the immune system to fight the tumour. Thus, RXC004 offers potential as a monotherapy or combination therapy.