Peptidream Inc. and Modulus Discovery Inc. have nominated the first clinical development candidate arising from the companies’ strategic drug discovery partnership.
It has been demonstrated that stem cell factor (SCF) and its receptor KIT play key roles in the differentiation, proliferation, survival, migration and activation of mast cells, which in turn play a central role in the development of IgE-mediated allergic diseases, including allergic urticaria and food allergy.
When potentially dangerous high liver enzymes showed up in two asymptomatic participants during Third Harmonic Bio Inc.’s ongoing phase Ib study of the KIT inhibitor THB-001, the company decided to discontinue the clinical trial.
“No good data goes unpunished in this market,” H.C. Wainwright analyst Andrew Fein wryly noted in an Aug. 17 research report highlighting Wall Street’s dismal response to Blueprint Medicines Corp.’s positive top-line readout of the registrational Pioneer study, in which KIT inhibitor Ayvakit (avapritinib) met the primary and all key secondary endpoints in patients with non-advanced systemic mastocytosis.
At the recent American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting, Blueprint Medicines Corp. unveiled results from the registrational phase II Pathfinder study with Ayvakit (avapritinib) in systemic mastocytosis (SM), adding more promise to the KIT inhibitor class.
Theseus Pharmaceuticals Inc., a startup developing new tyrosine kinase inhibitors to overcome treatment-resistant cancer mutations, has raised $100 million in a series B financing led by Foresite Capital. Co-founded at the health care investment firm Orbimed with former Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. scientists who pioneered the development of pan-variant kinase inhibitors, the company's lead candidate is THE-630, a next-generation pan-variant KIT inhibitor for the potential treatment of refractory gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
