On October 27, 2023 SN Bioscience Co., Ltd. (CEO Younghwan Park) reported the results of the phase 1 clinical study of SNB-101, a nanoparticle anti-cancer new drug pipeline, at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress 2023 held in Madrid, Spain from October 20 to 24 (Press release, SN BioScience, OCT 27, 2023, View Source [SID1234636396]). This phase 1 clinical study was conducted to evaluate the safety and tolerability of SNB-101 administered to 21 patients with solid tumors in Korea and to determine the recommended dose for phase 2. CHA Bundang Medical Center (Professor Joo-Hang Kim), Catholic University of Korea Seoul ST. Mary’s Hospital (Professor Myung A Lee), and Severance Hospital of the Yonsei University (Professor Sun Young Rha) participated in this study.
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In this phase 1 clinical study, patients with various solid cancers, such as small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, gastric cancer, esophageal cancer, head and neck cancer, and rectal cancer, who failed existing standard therapy were enrolled, and they had previously experienced 1st to 9th lines of treatment.
The results of the phase 1 study showed excellent safety in the dosage range (5 to 50 mg/m2 as of SN-38) and did not reach the maximum tolerable dose (MTD) even when all the cohorts were consumed. The most common adverse drug reactions were hematological, such as neutropenia, and were well manageable. In particular, diarrhea of grade 3 or higher, a major adverse drug reaction that frequently occurs with irinotecan, a drug with same active moiety, was not observed. Accordingly, it was evaluated to have excellent safety and tolerability compared to the competitive drugs.
In terms of the efficacy evaluation results, out of a total of 21 patients, partial response (PR) was 14.3% (3 patients, small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, rectal cancer), and stable disease (SD) was 28.6% (6 patients, small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, rectal cancer, head and neck cancer, gastric cancer), and progressive disease (PD) was 57.1% (12 patients). The disease control rate (DCR) of all patients was 42.9%, well demonstrating the characteristics of general cytotoxic anti-cancer drugs. In particular, in the high dose group (40~50mg/m2), the DCR was 83.3%, well indicating dose dependency.
SNB-101 is a polymeric nanoparticle with an average particle size of approximately 100 nm, and in the preclinical studies, its distribution to the lungs was significantly higher than that of the anti-cancer drugs in conventional delivery. That aligns well with the efficacy results in lung-related tumors such as small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer from preclinical and phase 1 clinical studies. Based on the results, SN Bioscience plans to conduct multinational phase 2 clinical study targeting the small cell lung cancer in 2024.
For small cell lung cancer, which is one of the areas with very high unmet medical needs, cisplatin + etoposide combination is currently used as the first line standard therapy. Second line therapies include lurbinectedin (product name: Zebzelca), which was recently approved as an orphan drug, and topotecan and paclitaxel, which are traditional chemotherapeutic regimen. According to the NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) guidelines, treatments are so limited that clinical studies are listed as second line treatment options. In preclinical studies, SNB-101 showed superior efficacy over the first line therapies as well as the second line therapies that are approved for small cell lung cancer. The goal of phase 2 clinical study is to show the superiority over competitive drugs as monotherapy and/or combination with immunotherapy, based on which, SN BioScience plans to enter the global market through expedited approval process after completing phase 2 clinical study.
[SNB-101]
SNB-101 is the world’s first nano-anti-cancer drug in which the active metabolite (SN-38) of Irinotecan, a commercially available anti-cancer drug, is active ingredient, and is applied with double nanomicelle technology, a core platform technology of SN Bioscience. SNB-101 is expected to secure new indications as it does not require a metabolic step for activation as well as the advantage of directly administering SN-38, an active metabolite. SNB-101 is a polymeric nanoparticle of approximately 100 nm characterized by a high accumulation rate, especially in the lung and tumor tissue, when administered intravenously, and has shown a wide range of efficacy in solid cancers such as small cell lung cancer, gastric cancer, colon cancer, and pancreatic cancer in preclinical studies. In addition, since it shows a synergistic effect even when used in combination with commercially available immune-anti-cancer drugs, targeted anti-cancer drugs, and chemical anti-cancer drugs, the possibility of its development as a combination therapy in the future is also very high. SNB-101 has secured mass production technology, which is one of the barriers to the development of nanomedicines and is being produced as a sterile product by a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) specializing in anti-cancer drugs that has received EU GMP certification. Furthermore, the US FDA has designated SNB-101 for orphan drug on SCLC based on the medical needs and its preclinical outcome.