On December 11, 2025 TransCode Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNAZ) and Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative ("Quantum Leap") reported a new collaboration to evaluate TransCode’s lead therapeutic candidate TTX-MC138 as part of the Quantum Leap PRE-I-SPY clinical trial platform.
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The PRE-I-SPY program will incorporate TTX-MC138 in a Phase 2a dose-expansion clinical trial enrolling up to 45 patients with colorectal cancer who have completed standard curative-intent therapy and are ctDNA positive. The Phase 2a portion of the trial is planned to begin in the first half of 2026 and will be led by Principal Investigator Dr. Paula Pohlmann of MD Anderson Cancer Center.
This clinical trial aims to evaluate the biological and clinical activity of TTX-MC138 in the Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) setting, where the therapeutic intervention may have the greatest opportunity to improve long-term outcomes. The decision to test TTX-MC138 in patients who have demonstrated a pathological complete response following standard-of-care therapy but have evidence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is based on the high degree of recurrence in those patients and the lack of effective therapies in that setting. TTX-MC138 offers a therapeutic option in that setting because of the drug’s mechanism of action specifically targeting metastatic disease combined with an excellent safety profile.
"The safety and durable clinical benefit observed in TransCode’s Phase 1a trial with TTX-MC138 provide the basis for TransCode’s decision to proceed with Phase 2a clinical testing", noted Daniel Vlock, MD, TransCode’s Consulting Clinician. "The observed safety profile, coupled with the durability of TTX-MC138’s anti-tumor effects, is particularly encouraging. These findings are consistent with the drug’s mechanism of action and provide a basis for a more rigorous efficacy evaluation. This positions us to potentially intervene earlier in the patient’s disease, offering a new therapeutic option for patients at risk of developing metastatic disease."
"Detecting and treating micrometastatic disease before it becomes visible is one of the biggest unmet challenges in cancer," said Laura Esserman, M.D., co-founder of Quantum Leap, and Professor of Surgery and Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco. "The PRE-ISPY Trial is uniquely positioned to rapidly evaluate agents like TTX-MC138 that may eradicate minimal residual disease and prevent recurrence in colorectal and eventually other cancer. We are excited to collaborate with TransCode to accelerate this program, with the goal of advancing effective, less toxic precision therapies into Phase 2 and beyond—where the potential to truly cure patients exists."
About TTX-MC138
TTX-MC138 is a first-in-class therapeutic candidate designed to inhibit microRNA-10b, or miR-10b, a microRNA widely believed to be critical to the emergence and progression of many metastatic cancers. TransCode’s Phase 1a first-in-human clinical trial achieved its primary safety endpoint and established a recommended Phase 2 dose, as announced at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2025.
(Press release, TransCode Therapeutics, DEC 11, 2025, View Source [SID1234661375])