On November 15, 2021 NiKang Therapeutics Inc. ("NiKang"), a clinical stage biotech company focused on developing innovative small molecule oncology medicines to help patients with unmet medical needs, reported that the first patient has been dosed in a phase 1/2, open-label, dose escalation and expansion study of single agent NKT2152, a small molecule that inhibits hypoxia inducible factor 2α (HIF2α). HIF2α is a transcription factor implicated in the development and progression of cancer including clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) (Press release, NiKang Therapeutics, NOV 15, 2021, View Source [SID1234595641]).

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"The initiation of this study represents an important milestone for this program," said Zhenhai Gao, Ph.D., co-founder, president, and CEO of NiKang. "We are excited to bring NKT2152, our second targeted agent, into clinical development. We look forward to exploring multiple opportunities for this compound as a monotherapy and in combination with other drugs in treating cancers."

The first-in-human trial is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and clinical activity of NKT2152 in patients with advanced ccRCC. Patients with relapsed or refractory ccRCC will be eligible to screen for enrollment. NKT2152 will be administered orally and treatment will continue until there is evidence of unacceptable treatment-related toxicity or disease progression.