On January 23, 2019 Sierra Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRRA), a clinical stage drug development company focused on advancing targeted therapeutics for the treatment of patients with significant unmet needs in hematology and oncology, reported that its Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Christian Hassig, will present "Addressing Intrinsic & Acquired PARP Inhibitor (PARPi) Resistance Through Chk1 Inhibition" at the DNA Damage Response (DDR) Therapeutics Summit in Boston, MA (Press release, Sierra Oncology, JAN 23, 2019, View Source [SID1234532829]). The presentation is scheduled for 9:00 am Eastern Time (ET) on January 30, 2019.
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"Targeting components of the DDR machinery that regulate replication stress, such as Chk1, represents an attractive therapeutic strategy to address both intrinsic and acquired PARPi resistance," noted Dr. Hassig. "For example, CCNE1-driven tumors, frequently found in high grade serous ovarian, breast and endometrial cancers, are associated with high replication stress and are generally insensitive to PARPi therapy. We have demonstrated that our Chk1 inhibitor, SRA737, plus low dose gemcitabine is highly effective in CCNE1-amplified preclinical models, where low-dose gemcitabine induces an additional exogenous form of replication stress further enhancing sensitivity to Chk1 inhibition. Moreover, PARPi acquired resistance is driven, in part, through increased replication fork stabilization and partial recovery of homologous recombination repair, two processes regulated by Chk1. As such, our preclinical results suggest that combining PARPi with SRA737 may prove effective in treating this significant emerging clinical issue."
Sierra Oncology is a key sponsor of the DNA Damage Response Therapeutics Summit, which will gather leading stakeholders from across drug development over two days to discuss how to advance the therapeutic potential of targeting DNA repair pathways.
Inducement Grants Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)
Sierra also announced that on January 21, 2019 the Compensation Committee of Sierra Oncology’s Board of Directors granted non-qualified stock options to purchase an aggregate of 141,000 shares of its common stock to 5 new employees under Sierra Oncology’s 2018 Equity Inducement Plan.
The 2018 Equity Inducement Plan is used exclusively for the grant of equity awards to individuals who were not previously an employee or non-employee director of Sierra (or following a bona fide period of non-employment), as an inducement material to such individual’s entering into employment with Sierra, pursuant to Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules.
The options have an exercise price of $1.41 per share, which is equal to the closing price of Sierra’s common stock on January 22, 2018, the first day on which markets are open following the date of grant. Each option will vest and become exercisable as to 25% of the shares on the first anniversary of the recipient’s start date, and then will vest and become exercisable as to the remaining 75% of the shares in 36 equal monthly installments following the first anniversary, in each case, subject to each such employee’s continued employment with Sierra on such vesting dates. The options are subject to the terms and conditions of Sierra’s 2018 Equity Inducement Plan, and the terms and conditions of the stock option agreement covering the grant.