Zai Lab Announces Approval of AUGTYRO™ (repotrectinib) for Patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC by China’s NMPA

On May 12, 2024 Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ: ZLAB; HKEX: 9688) reported that the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China has approved the New Drug Application (NDA) for AUGTYRO (repotrectinib) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Press release, Zai Laboratory, MAY 12, 2024, View Source [SID1234643106]). The approval is based on the pivotal TRIDENT-1 study, an open-label, single-arm, Phase 1/2 trial that evaluated repotrectinib in TKI-naïve and TKI-pretreated patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC.

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"We are pleased with NMPA’s approval of AUGTYRO for the treatment of patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC in China. There is a significant unmet need for these patients given the limited durability of benefit due to the emergence of resistance with existing therapies, eventually leading to tumor progression," said Rafael G. Amado, M.D., President, Head of Global Oncology Research and Development at Zai Lab. "We appreciate the NMPA for their thorough assessment of AUGTYRO, recognizing its potential to address the unmet medical need in China."

"Despite existing earlier generation TKIs for ROS1-positive NSCLC, there remains an unmet need for new treatment options that support important clinical goals, such as durable therapeutic response," said Dr. Shun Lu, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Lung Cancer Center, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University. "The TRIDENT-1 study showed that treatment with repotrectinib results in high response rates with promising durability in patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC, across TKI-naïve and TKI-pretreated settings, including in the presence of intracranial disease. Based on this study, repotrectinib has the potential to become a new standard of care for these patients."

In June 2023, China’s NMPA accepted the NDA for AUGTYRO for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive NSCLC, with priority review granted in May 2023.

Zai Lab contributed to the pivotal TRIDENT-1 study and dosed the first patient in Greater China in May 2021, and the results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in January 2024. The topline efficacy and safety data of Chinese subpopulation is consistent with that of global population, demonstrating robust response rates and durable clinical activity in patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC. Treatment with AUGTYRO was generally well tolerated with a manageable safety profile.

About AUGTYRO

AUGTYRO (repotrectinib) is a next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting the ROS1 and NTRK oncogenic drivers. Patients with solid tumors, including NSCLC, harboring ROS1 and NTRK gene fusions treated with approved targeted therapies often develop resistance mutations that limit binding of these drugs to their target. Ultimately, this leads to shortened duration of response and tumor progression. AUGTYRO is the first next-generation ROS1 and TRK TKI uniquely designed to improve durability of benefit, including in the brain.

In November 2023, AUGTYRO was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive NSCLC.

AUGTYRO has been granted three Breakthrough Therapy Designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in: ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC patients who have not been treated with a ROS1 TKI; ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC patients who have previously been treated with one ROS1 TKI and who have not received prior platinum-based chemotherapy; and patients with advanced solid tumors that have an NTRK gene fusion who have progressed following treatment with one or two prior TRK TKIs, with or without prior chemotherapy, and have not had satisfactory alternative treatments. Additionally, AUGTYRO was previously granted four Fast-Track designations in patients with: ROS1-positive advanced NSCLC who have not been treated with one ROS1 TKI; ROS1-positive advanced NSCLC who have been previously treated with one prior line of platinum-based chemotherapy and one prior ROS1 TKI; ROS1-positive advanced NSCLC pretreated with one prior ROS1 TKI without prior platinum-based chemotherapy; and advanced solid tumors that have an NTRK gene fusion who have progressed following treatment with at least one prior line of chemotherapy and one or two prior TRK TKIs and have not had satisfactory alternative treatments. AUGTYRO was also granted an Orphan Drug designation in 2017.

AUGTYRO has been granted four Breakthrough Therapy Designations by the CDE of China’s NMPA in ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC patients who have not been treated with a ROS1 TKI; ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC patients who have previously been treated with one prior ROS1 TKI and who have not received prior platinum-based chemotherapy or immunotherapy; and ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC patients who have previously been treated with one prior ROS1 TKI and one platinum-based chemotherapy; and patients with advanced solid tumors that have an NTRK gene fusion who have progressed following treatment with one or two prior TRK TKIs, with or without prior chemotherapy, and have not had satisfactory alternative treatments.

Zai Lab has an exclusive license agreement with Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc. (Turning Point Therapeutics, a Bristol Myers Squibb company) to develop and commercialize AUGTYRO in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau).

About TRIDENT-1

TRIDENT-1 is a global, multicenter, single-arm, open-label, multi-cohort Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and anti-tumor activity of AUGTYRO in patients with advanced solid tumors, including NSCLC.1,2 Phase 1/2 includes patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring ROS1 fusions.2 Additional analyses of the trial are still being conducted; asymptomatic central nervous system (CNS) metastases are allowed.1,2 The trial excludes patients with symptomatic brain metastases, among other exclusion criteria.1 Phase 1 of the trial included the dose escalation that determined the recommended Phase 2 dose.2

Phase 2 of the trial has a primary endpoint of overall response rate (ORR).1,2 Key secondary endpoints include duration of response (DOR) according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST v1.1) as assessed by Blinded Independent Central Review (BICR), progression-free survival (PFS), and intracranial response in six distinct expansion cohorts, including TKI-naïve and TKI-pretreated patients with ROS1-positive locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC.1,2

In TRIDENT-1, 79% (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 68 to 88) of TKI-naïve patients (n=71) responded to treatment; 6% experienced complete responses and 73% experienced partial responses.1 The median duration of response (mDOR) was 34.1 months.1 Among TKI-pretreated patients, 38% (95% CI: 25 to 52) (n=56) responded to treatment; 5% experienced complete responses and 32% experienced partial responses and the mDOR was 14.8 months.1 Among those who had measurable CNS metastases at baseline, responses in intracranial lesions were observed in 7 of 8 TKI-naïve patients and in 5 of 12 of those who were TKI-pretreated.1

The FDA-approved dosing for AUGTYRO is 160 mg orally once daily for 14 days, then increased to 160 mg twice daily until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.1

About Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in China

Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer type and the leading cause of cancer death in China. There were approximately 871,000 new cases and 767,000 deaths of lung cancer in China in 2022, respectively.3 NSCLC accounts for approximately 85% of lung cancer, and approximately 70% of NSCLC is locally advanced or metastatic at initial diagnosis. In China, ROS1 rearrangements occur in 2-3% of patients with advanced NSCLC.

Replicate Bioscience Presents Positive Data from Phase 1 Trial and Preclinical Data with Novel Self-Replicating RNA at the 2024 American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting

On May 11, 2024 Replicate Bioscience, a clinical-stage company pioneering novel self-replicating RNA (srRNA) technology for use across a range of infectious disease, oncology, autoimmune disease indications and beyond, reported new preclinical data and today will share interim clinical trial results from an ongoing Phase 1 study at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, May 7-11 in Baltimore, Maryland (Press release, Replicate Bioscience, MAY 11, 2024, View Source;cell-therapy-asgct-annual-meeting-302142558.html [SID1234643103]).

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"At ASGCT (Free ASGCT Whitepaper), Replicate is presenting two important breakthroughs in srRNA technology," said Nathaniel Wang, Ph.D., CEO of Replicate. "For vaccines, our clinical data demonstrate the induction of protective levels of immunity at doses significantly lower than any other reported mRNA or srRNA vaccine. This potency, combined with a best-in-class safety profile, demonstrates the capability of our technology to greatly expand the utility of RNA technology for vaccines. Beyond vaccines, further improvements to our library of vectors now enable us to control and prolong in vivo production of therapeutic proteins compared to circular RNA, linear mRNA, and current state-of-the art srRNA, opening up therapeutic areas such as immunology and metabolic disease."

RBI-4000’s Phase 1 results will be presented on Saturday, May 11 at 10:15 a.m. ET by Replicate’s Chief Medical Officer, Zelanna Goldberg, M.D., in an oral presentation titled "Single and Low Dose Self-Replicating RNA Vaccine Provides Effective Immune Protection Against Rabies in Healthy Volunteers." The results highlight the strong immunogenicity and favorable safety profile of RBI-4000 in the Phase 1 trial, which is the first clinical validation of Replicate’s next-generation srRNA technology. Additional takeaways are as follows:

Day 85 datasets for all cohorts met the WHO-established surrogate of protection at doses significantly lower than any other reported RNA-based vaccines;
Substantive majority of participants achieved metric in all dose cohorts.
In the previously unreported 10 mcg dose cohorts:
100% of participants achieved surrogate of protection after two vaccine doses.
92% of participants achieved surrogate of protection after a single vaccine dose.
Safety data from the interim dataset demonstrate RBI-4000 was well tolerated with no severe adverse events across all cohorts; reactogenicity was transient and self-limiting.
No dose limiting toxicity (DLT) was observed; maximum tolerated dose (MTD) has not been reached, enabling further dose escalation.
On May 9, Parinaz (Paris) Aliahmad, Ph.D., Head of Research and Development at Replicate, delivered an oral presentation at ASGCT (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) titled "Novel Self-Replicating RNA Vectors Broaden Therapeutic Window and Expand Use Outside of Vaccines." The results underscore the broad potential of srRNA as a new treatment modality across a wide range of disease areas. Additional takeaways are as follows:

Vaccines using Replicate’s optimized vectors achieve protective immunity at ultra-low doses (1 picogram) with minimal reactogenicity.
Beyond vaccines, Replicate’s novel srRNA vectors demonstrate >100-fold increased expression of encoded proteins and improved durability compared to circular RNA, linear mRNA vectors, and current state-of-the-art srRNA technologies.
Replicate’s novel srRNA vectors can expand utility of RNA technology for templated expression of biotherapeutic proteins for applications outside of vaccines, in areas such as immune disorders, metabolic disease, and cancers.

Curis to Present Updated Data from the TakeAim Leukemia Study

On May 10, 2024 Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), a biotechnology company focused on the development of emavusertib (CA-4948), an orally available, small molecule IRAK4 inhibitor, reported that the Company will present updated data from the TakeAim Leukemia study Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. ET (Press release, Curis, MAY 10, 2024, View Source [SID1234643079]). Management will host a conference call on the same day at 4:30 p.m. ET.

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To access the live conference call, please dial 800-836-8184 from the United States or 646-357-8785 from other locations, shortly before 4:30 p.m. ET. The conference call can also be accessed on the Curis website at www.curis.com in the ‘Investors’ section. A replay of the conference call will be available on the Curis website shortly after completion of the call.

Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement

On May 10, 2024, Propanc Biopharma, Inc. (the "Company") reported to have entered into a Maturity Extension Agreement (the "Extension Agreement") with Ionic Ventures, LLC (the "Ionic"), pursuant to which the Ionic agreed to extend the maturity date of original 10% OID Promissory Note issued on August 15, 2023 (the "Original Note") to September 30, 2024 (Press release, Propanc, MAY 10, 2024, View Source [SID1234643402]). The maturity date of the Original Note shall be amended retroactively as of November 15, 2023 and both the Company and Ionic acknowledged and agreed that no event of default shall be deemed to have occurred solely by virtue of the Company failing to pay all principal and interest on or before November 15, 2023. All other terms of the Original Note shall continue in full force and effect after the date of the Extension Agreement

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The foregoing description of the Extension Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Extension Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K (this "Form 8-K") and is incorporated herein by reference.

FORE Biotherapeutics to Present at the 2024 RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference

On May 10, 2024 FORE Biotherapeutics reported that the Company will be presenting at the 2024 RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference (Press release, Fore Biotherapeutics, MAY 10, 2024, View Source [SID1234643080]). The presentation will take place on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 9:00-9:25 AM ET.

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William Hinshaw, Chief Executive Officer, and Jeffrey Sacher, Interim Chief Financial Officer, will host and participate in one-on-one meetings. Please contact your RBC Capital Markets salesperson or Argot Partners to schedule one-on-one meetings with the management team.