On December 13, 2022 Vincerx Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: VINC), a biopharmaceutical company aspiring to address the unmet medical needs of patients with cancer through paradigm-shifting therapeutics, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided a safe to proceed letter and cleared the IND application for VIP236, the Company’s front-runner SMDC for the treatment of advanced solid tumors (Press release, Vincerx Pharma, DEC 13, 2022, View Source [SID1234625225]).
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VIP236 is a first-in-class SMDC with a tailored design to efficiently treat patients with cancer with aggressive and metastatic disease. VIP236 binds to activated αVβ3 integrin allowing specific homing to the tumor and is efficiently cleaved by neutrophil elastase (NE). Both proteins are present in the tumor microenvironment (TME), are highly expressed in advanced metastatic tumors, and are associated with poor prognosis in patients with cancer. Anticancer activity occurs after a specific and targeted release of an optimized camptothecin (CPT) payload by NE in the TME. The CPT payload of VIP236 is optimized for high permeability with low active efflux potential to overcome transporter-mediated resistance observed with SN38, the active metabolite of irinotecan.
"We are excited to advance our lead SMDC, VIP236, to the clinic," said Ahmed Hamdy, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vincerx. "Preclinical results provide validation of our targeting mechanism and demonstrate how VIP236 can deliver up to 40 times more drug to the cancer than the surrounding tissues or normal organs. This is evident in the durable tumor regressions and significant reduction of metastases in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) cancer models, including PDX models of triple negative breast cancer, renal cell carcinoma and colorectal cancer."
Dr. Hamdy continued, "We look forward to starting our first-in-human dose- escalation study early next year to evaluate the maximum tolerated dose, safety and tolerability in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors. Bringing VIP236 to the clinic while continuing to be strategic about our resources remains one of our top priorities. We will be pushing the VIP236 program forward into Phase 1 with our existing capital and continue to expect our cash runway to lead us into late 2024."