Pharos iBio finds potential for overcoming resistance in leukemia drug candidate

[Financial News] A preclinical study of lasmotinib (PHI-101), a candidate treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) being developed by Pharos iBio, found that it had an anticancer effect even in cases where resistance to existing targeted therapies had developed. However, as the results were obtained in animal models, whether the treatment is also effective in patients must be confirmed in subsequent clinical trials.
Pharos iBio said on the 14th that a paper on a preclinical study of lasmotinib, which is being developed to treat relapsed or refractory AML, had been published in the international journal Leukemia. Relapsed or refractory refers to a condition in which the disease returns after treatment or does not respond to existing treatment.
The study assessed lasmotinib’s anticancer effect and its potential to overcome resistance to existing treatments in animal models using cells derived from leukemia patients. In particular, the researchers examined the drug’s efficacy under conditions resembling those in which the disease actually develops, using a model in which leukemia cells were implanted in the bone marrow rather than under the skin. Donald Small, a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the United States who has studied AML and targeted therapies, participated as the paper’s corresponding author.
The study found that median survival in the lasmotinib group was 191 days in an animal model using patient-derived cells. This was 83 days longer than the control group’s 108 days and 58 days longer than the 133 days in the group treated with gilteritinib, an existing FLT3-targeted therapy.
Improved survival was also observed in an animal model designed to represent cases in which resistance to existing treatments had developed. During treatment with FLT3-targeted therapies such as quizartinib or gilteritinib, patients with AML may develop mutations such as FLT3-ITD-F691L. In such cases, the existing drugs may become less effective, and options for subsequent treatment may be limited.
In the model with this resistance mutation, median survival was 44.4 days in the lasmotinib group. It was 21.4 days in the gilteritinib group and 19.4 days in the control group. The company said that a statistically significant survival benefit was observed in the lasmotinib group compared with both the control group and the gilteritinib group.
Lasmotinib is a drug candidate that targets FLT3, a protein involved in the growth and proliferation of blood cells. Pharos iBio has completed a Phase 1 trial in patients with relapsed or refractory AML and is developing a strategy to advance to Phase 2. The company is also in talks with global pharmaceutical companies on licensing and business development, and aims to secure a licensing deal from late this year to early next year.
Pharos iBio CEO Yoon Jeong-hyeok said, “We confirmed the anticancer effect in a leukemia model in the bone marrow and also confirmed activity in a model with a resistance mutation to existing FLT3-targeted therapies.” He added, “We will demonstrate efficacy and safety in actual patients through subsequent clinical development.”

[email protected] Sang-hee Jeong Reporter