On April 11, 2022 Vivace Therapeutics, Inc., a small molecule discovery and development company developing first-in-class therapies targeting the Hippo pathway, reported that new preclinical data on the company’s transcriptional enhanced associate domain (TEAD) autopalmitoylation inhibitor, VT3989, were reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2022 (Press release, Vivace Therapeurtics, APR 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234612016]). Presented findings demonstrated that the combination of VT3989 and osimertinib (Tagrisso), an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, possessed enhanced anti-tumor activity and delayed tumor growth as compared to osimertinib alone in preclinical EGFR mutant tumor models. The AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) conference is being held April 8-13, 2022, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Data reported in the poster presentation demonstrated that VT3989 exhibits strong synergistic activity with osimertinib. This was highlighted by the ability of the combination to enhance the blocking of tumor growth in EGFR mutant, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell-line derived xenograft models, including the HCC827 model that is already known to be particularly sensitive to osimertinib. Furthermore, the combination of VT3989 and osimertinib significantly increased the life span of mice in an NCI-H1975 NSCLC CDX model as compared to osimertinib monotherapy.
Additionally, researchers showed similar synergistic activity in blocking tumor regrowth in human patient-derived xenograft models of EGFR mutant NSCLC. Of note, data demonstrated that TEAD inhibition achieved with VT3989 significantly delayed the re-emergence of tumor mass after osimertinib treatment resulted in non-palpable tumors. This finding offers evidence that EGFR mutant NSCLC relies upon dysfunction in the Hippo pathway to survive treatment with osimertinib, and can thus be targeted with TEAD inhibition.
"The exciting new data presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) not only support previous research highlighting the potency and selectivity of VT3989 as a TEAD inhibitor and its single agent anti-tumor activity in mesothelioma models, the findings also begin to build a compelling strategy around a synergistic combination treatment approach featuring VT3989 and EGFR inhibitors such as osimertinib," said Tracy Tang, Ph.D., vice president of biology at Vivace Therapeutics and lead author on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) poster presentation. "We are eager to continue our pioneering research into the Hippo pathway and how addressing dysfunction in that pathway may pave the way for first-in-class cancer therapies capable of addressing the unmet needs of patients."
Vivace’s proprietary compounds inhibit palmitoylation of members of the TEAD protein family, including both covalent and non-covalent inhibitors. The company’s clinical candidate, VT3989, is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials. Pre-clinical research and development activities have demonstrated that the clinical candidate is active as a monotherapy against tumors that rely upon dysfunction of the Hippo pathway, and in combination with other anti-cancer therapies in additional tumor types.
The poster presented is available at the company’s website www.vivacetherapeutics.com.