Biotech Strategy Blog

Commentary on Science, Innovation & New Products with a focus on Oncology, Hematology & Cancer Immunotherapy

Posts tagged ‘PI3K Inhibitors’

The changing face of the SCCHN landscape

It’s been very clear for over four years now that combinations were going to be necessary if we want to a larger number of deeper and more durable responses than can attained with monotherapy.  Gradually, we are starting to see early and very preliminary readouts with some of the trials in progress.

We are also learning very quickly that it’s going to be a case of #notalltumours and #notallsubsets.

ASCO 2016 Posters 2

Another very busy poster session at #ASCO16!

By this, I mean we obviously can’t take a one-combination-fits-all approach for all tumour types.

We need to be able to classify patients into more homogenous subsets and then devise different combinations or even sequences that address the underlying biology of both the cancer itself and also the tumour microenvironment.  That’s going to take a while to sort out, perhaps even years.

Let’s not forget though that in the meantime, we can gather information quite a few clues both preclinically, as well as from initial clinical studies.  Sometimes, after all, we even learn more from negative trials than positive ones. This is an area that is ripe for combinations with traditional targeted therapies, the question is which ones are promising and why?

We took a look at the landscape in SCCH&N and how this might evolve over time in the medium term, with future opportunities, that can be explored in rational combination approaches.

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AACR 2013 GDC-0032 a next generation PI3K Inhibitor shows early promise in breast cancer

Genentech’s next generation PI3-kinase inhibitor, GDC-0032, was the topic of two presentations yesterday at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) taking place in Washington D.C.

Genentech have put substantial resources into developing new agents that target different elements of the PI3K pathway.  These include: GDC-0941, GDC-0980, GDC-0084, GDC-0349, GDC-0068.  At this year’s AACR, data on their latest compound, GDC-0032, was presented. This agent is a selective inhibitor of PI3K alpha, delta and gamma but spares inhibition of the PI3K-beta isoform.

In the New Drugs on the Horizon session, Alan Olivero from Genentech gave a fascinating talk (if you are a medicinal chemist) on how the chemical structure of GDC-0032 was rationally developed. He described how a slight change in structure can lead to a very different selectivity profile.

One way in which GDC-0032 is novel, is that it spares the beta-isoform of PI3K, which Genentech hypothesize may reduce some of the undesired side effects such as effects on metabolism, previously seen with pan PI3K inhibitors such as GDC-0941.

Olivero noted that GDC-0032 has greater maximal efficacy and more potency than GDC-0941 in PI3K alpha mutant xenograft tumors as compared to wild-type ones.

The results of a first-in-human phase 1a dose escalation study for GDC-0032 were presented at AACR 2013 in yesterday’s Clinical Trial Symposium (Abstract LB-64).

Dejan Juric MD (Massachusetts General Hospital) presented promising early clinical data for GDC-0032 in PI3KCA mutant cancers, especially breast cancer.

The results showed that in PI3KCA mutant breast cancer there were 4 cPR (RECIST -30 to -70%) and 2 SD out of 6 patients, all of whom had measurable disease with pre-treatment.  

One confirmed partial response in PI3KCA mutant breast cancer took place after 11 lines of prior therapy in a 74 year old woman with HER2- breast cancer, who subsequently became triple negative.  Another patient with a confirmed partial response had HER2+ ER+ metastatic breast cancer.

While this early data is promising, further clinical trials are needed to validate it.  Dr Juric concluded his presentation by noting that,

“GDC-0032 is being further explored as a single-agent in solid tumors and in combination with endocrine therapies in breast cancer including letrozole and fulvestrant.”

If you are interested in GDC-0032, then other presentations at AACR this week to watch out for are:

Abstract 2382 (Tuesday Apr 9, 8-12 am Poster Section 2, Board 2) Development of predictive biomarker gene expression signatures that associates with drug sensitivity and kinase activation in breast cancer.

Abstract 4470 (Tuesday Apr 9, 1-5 pm Poster Section 41, Board 28) Mechanisms of acquired resistance to the PI3K inhibitors in colorectal cancer cell lines.

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