On January 6, 2026 Ascentage Pharma Group International (NASDAQ: AAPG; HKEX: 6855), a global, commercial stage, integrated biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel, differentiated therapies to address unmet medical needs in cancer, reported that its novel next-generation BTK-targeted protein degrader, APG-3288, has received the IND clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is poised to enter a clinical study in patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies. This clearance officially opens the chapter on Ascentage Pharma’s clinical development in the field of targeted degradation and marks another major expansion to the company’s global innovative pipeline.
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This is a global, multicenter, open-label Phase I study designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic (PK) profile, and preliminary efficacy of APG-3288 in patients with relapsed/refractory hematologic malignancies.
BTK is a key kinase in the B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling pathway and plays a central role in the activation, proliferation, and survival of B-cells. Aberrant BTK activation is closely associated with the initiation and progression of multiple B-cell malignancies such as B-cell lymphoma (including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia (WM)1. Beyond oncology indications, BTK also plays a critical role in both BCR- and Fc receptor-mediated signal transduction in innate immune cells. As a result, the aberrant activation of BTK has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various autoimmune and inflammatory diseases2. BTK inhibitors have drastically improved treatment outcomes for patients with B-cell malignancies. However, BTK mutations and remodeling of signaling pathways often lead to acquired resistance during prolonged treatment. There remains an urgent clinical need for new drugs promising novel mechanisms of action.
APG-3288 is the first novel, highly potent and selective BTK degrader developed utilizing Ascentage Pharma’s proprietary proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology platform. This candidate induces the formation of a ternary complex consisting of the BTK target, the PROTAC, and the Cereblon E3 ubiquitin ligase, leading to proteasome-mediated degradation of the BTK target. Unlike conventional BTK inhibitors, APG-3288 is designed to act through degradation rather than inhibition, inducing rapid, potent, highly selective, and sustained degradation of both wild-type BTK and multiple BTK mutants associated with resistance to existing BTK inhibitors. Critically, this approach blocks the BCR-BTK signaling axis at its source, thereby overcoming resistance to BTK inhibitors and potentially providing a novel and differentiated therapeutic strategy for BTK-targeted treatment4.
In preclinical studies, compared to other BTK degraders in development, APG-3288 demonstrated more potent BTK degradation, higher selectivity, and more favorable PK properties that highlighted the drug’s potential.
(Press release, Ascentage Pharma, JAN 6, 2026, View Source [SID1234663142])