On September 27, 2017 Loxo Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq:LOXO), a biopharmaceutical company innovating the development of highly selective medicines for patients with genetically defined cancers, announced details of the LOXO-292 abstract that will be presented as a late-breaking oral presentation at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer being held from October 15-18, 2017, in Yokohama, Japan (Press release, Loxo Oncology, SEP 27, 2017, View Source [SID1234520670]). LOXO-292 is Loxo Oncology’s highly selective RET inhibitor.
The abstract describes the first two patients with RET-fusion lung cancer with and without brain metastases treated with LOXO-292. Both patients had disease progression while receiving prior multi-kinase inhibitors (MKIs). On LOXO-292, both patients achieved partial responses. The first patient was previously treated with RXDX-105, enrolled on the first dose cohort of the Phase 1 trial, received LOXO-292 20 mg daily, and demonstrated a RECIST confirmed partial response. The second patient was previously treated with alectinib (starting at 600 mg twice daily and increased to 900 mg twice daily) and experienced disease progression systemically and in the brain. Due to the rapidly progressive nature of the brain metastases, the patient was ineligible for the Phase 1 trial and received LOXO-292 in doses ranging from 20-100 mg twice daily under an intra-patient dose escalation single patient protocol. The patient demonstrated a RECIST unconfirmed partial response, including a response in the brain, with a confirmatory response assessment pending as of the abstract’s writing. Both patients remained on LOXO-292 as of the abstract’s writing; additional patient follow-up for these two cases will be discussed in the oral presentation. In this early, two patient data set, LOXO-292 has been well-tolerated, with no adverse events attributed to LOXO-292.
“We are excited to present LOXO-292 proof-of-concept clinical data to the clinical community,” said Josh Bilenker, M.D., chief executive officer of Loxo Oncology. “Just four months after initiating a Phase 1 trial, LOXO-292 is already achieving clinically meaningful levels of RET target coverage in patients, as evidenced by anti-tumor activity in pretreated patients. With our Phase 1 trial continuing to dose escalate, we look forward to providing a more comprehensive trial update in 2018.”
The schedule for the late-breaking oral presentation is as follows:
Presentation Date: October 18, 2017
Title: LOXO-292, a potent, highly selective RET inhibitor, in MKI-resistant RET fusion-positive lung cancer patients with and without brain metastases
Session Title: Emerging Genomic Targets
Presenter: Vamsidhar Velcheti, M.D.
The full text of the abstract can be found here.
About LOXO-292
LOXO-292 is a potent, oral and selective investigational new drug in clinical development for the treatment of patients with cancers that harbor abnormalities in the rearranged during transfection (RET) kinase. RET fusions have been identified in approximately 2% of non-small cell lung cancer, 10-20% of papillary thyroid cancer, and a subset of colon and other cancers. RET point mutations account for approximately 60% of medullary thyroid cancer. Both RET fusion and select RET mutated cancers are primarily dependent on this single activated kinase for their proliferation and survival. This dependency, often referred to as “oncogene addiction,” renders such tumors highly susceptible to small molecule inhibitors targeting RET. LOXO-292 was designed to inhibit native RET signaling as well as anticipated acquired resistance mechanisms that could otherwise limit the activity of this therapeutic approach. LOXO-292 is currently being studied in a Phase 1 trial. Interested patients and physicians can contact the Loxo Oncology Physician and Patient RET Clinical Trial Hotline at 1-855-RET-4-292 or email [email protected].