On July 17, 2019 NuCana plc (NASDAQ: NCNA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on significantly improving treatment outcomes for patients with cancer, reported that the first patients have been dosed in the Phase I study of NUC-7738 (Press release, Nucana BioPharmaceuticals, JUL 17, 2019, View Source [SID1234537571]). This is the third ProTide NuCana has advanced to clinical studies and further broadens the therapeutic scope of the ProTide portfolio. NUC-7738 is NuCana’s ProTide transformation of 3’-deoxyadenosine (or cordycepin), a novel nucleoside analog with a unique mode of action, that has shown potent anti-cancer activity in preclinical studies.
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Hugh Griffith, NuCana’s Chief Executive Officer, stated: "The dosing of the first patients in this Phase I study of NUC-7738 is another major step in the expansion of NuCana’s product pipeline. NUC-7738 is our third ProTide to advance to the clinic and the first that is based on a novel nucleoside analog. We are grateful to the patients and clinicians who are making this study possible."
More information about this study may be found here.
NUC-7738 is a ProTide transformation of cordycepin, a nucleoside analog that was isolated from the fungus Cordyceps sinensis in 1950. Cordycepin has demonstrated potent anti-cancer activity in multiple preclinical studies, but has not been successfully developed primarily due to its degradation by the enzyme adenosine deaminase (or ADA). Unlike the parent nucleoside analogue, NUC-7738 is not a substrate for this enzyme and is therefore resistant to degradation by ADA. Similar to NuCana’s other ProTides, NUC-7738 is designed to generate significantly higher levels of the active anti-cancer metabolite of cordycepin, 3’-deoxyadenosine triphosphate (or 3’-dATP), directly inside cells, bypassing the resistance mechanisms of transport, activation and breakdown.
Sarah Blagden, Associate Professor of Experimental Cancer Therapeutics at The University of Oxford and Principal Investigator of the study stated: "Oxford Early Phase Trials unit has enrolled the global first cancer patient to receive NUC-7738, the latest ProTide anti-cancer agent from NuCana’s pipeline. This is an exciting study to participate in and we look forward to seeing the clinical results."