On April 25, 2022 AI Therapeutics, Inc., an AI driven clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for rare diseases, reported the acquisition of EntreChem, S.L.’s investigational drug candidate EC-8042 (redesignated AIT-102), a novel targeted cancer therapy in development for rare pediatric and other cancers (Press release, EntreChem, APR 25, 2022, View Source [SID1234648560]).
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Despite recent advances in the understanding of tumor biology, treatment for many pediatric cancers remains limited to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy which often have poor outcomes and are associated with significant side effects. AIT-102 specifically targets the mutations responsible for the formation and progression of two notable pediatric tumors, rhabdoid tumors and Ewing sarcoma, and holds the potential to treat a broader family of tumors that share a common mechanism of mutated or dysregulated SWI/SNF activity.
"As a physician treating children with cancer on a daily basis, I am acutely aware of the need for more effective and less toxic therapies," said Patrick Grohar, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Translational Research with the Center of Childhood Cancer Research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a leader in the study and treatment of pediatric tumors. "For many tumor types, the biological culprit is well understood, but has proven difficult to target with pharmaceuticals. I have dedicated the last 15 years of my professional career to understanding the mechanism of tumor biology in children and finding new, targeted, therapies to treat these tumors. I am particularly impressed with the strong preclinical data from our studies of AIT-102 in rhabdoid tumors and Ewing sarcoma, and I believe that AIT-102 has the potential to transform the treatment of these cancers, as well as many others."
"AIT-102 is a powerful addition to AI Therapeutics’ rare disease treatment pipeline," said Brigette Roberts, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of AI Therapeutics. "Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children in the US today. With AIT-102, we hope to change these statistics. Beyond pediatrics, AIT-102 has the potential to treat up to 20% of cancers with altered SWI/SNF activity, either through mutation or dysregulation, including epithelioid sarcoma, synovial sarcoma, lung adenocarcinoma, colorectal cancer, and others. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to bring forward a promising new agent to help fight these tumors."
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.