On August 31, 2020 Aptorum Group Limited (NASDAQ: APM, Euronext Paris: APM) ("Aptorum Group"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapeutics including orphan diseases and oncology indications, reported further positive data from its latest in vivo studies showing significant activity against neuroblastoma tumor reduction when treated with its lead compound SACT-1 in combination with standard of care (SOC) chemotherapy (Press release, Aptorum, AUG 31, 2020, View Source [SID1234564194]). Separately, SACT-1 was also screened for its in vitro activity against over 300 cancer cell lines and showed positive results in a number of cancer types including in particular colorectal cancer, leukemia and lymphoma, etc.

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Our repurposed drug candidate, SACT-1 is undergoing preparation for IND submission and is on track for regulatory application to target to commence phase 1b/2a clinical trials under the US FDA’s 505(b)(2) pathway.

"Neuroblastoma is one of the most prevailing solid tumor cancers in children, representing 8% – 10% of all childhood tumors, accounting for c. 15% of all cancer related deaths in the pediatric population1. For the high-risk patient group, the 5-year survival rate of this condition is around 40-50% as observed by the American Cancer Society2 based on existing treatment. We are delighted to see the progress of our SACT-1, one of our first assets from our SMART-ACT platform. We are extremely excited to observe SACT-1’s significant effect on tumor shrinkage when used in combination with standard of care chemotherapy in our latest in vivo studies. Moreover, we believe that SACT-1 may have potential applications in a number of other cancer types, including non-orphan cancers, which we will be continuing to investigate further for its wider application," said Dr. Clark Cheng, the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director of the company.

Summary of our in vivo assessment against neuroblastoma and in vitro assessment against other cancers are discussed below.

Neuroblastoma In Vivo Assessment

Based on the initial 22 day data of a recent study we conducted in a xenograft mouse model of neuroblastoma, SACT-1 was orally administered daily at 60mg/kg in combination of SOC chemotherapy brought a statistically significant tumor shrinkage (unpaired student’s t-test, p<0.01) from Day 15 to Day 22, compared to the control group which received SOC only. Indeed, the combination reduced the tumor size by up to 54.2% in the first 22 days compared with the control (SOC only). SACT-1 appears to be effective in accelerating the effect of the SOC in early time points (from Day 1 – 7 vs control). This further supports our earlier in vitro observation that SACT-1 promotes tumor DNA damage and tumor cell death.

Other Cancer Types In Vitro Assessment

In addition, SACT-1 was also screened for in vitro activity in a panel of over 300 cancer cell lines. Similar to our previous findings against neuroblastoma cell lines, SACT-1 exhibits similar anti-tumor efficacy across one or more other major cancer types, including but not limited to colorectal cancer, leukemia and lymphoma cell lines. As a result, in addition to treating neuroblastoma, SACT-1 may have potential applications in the treatment of other cancers. Based on this discovery, the company plans to carry out further in vivo studies to study the efficacy of SACT-1 over other types of cancers to maximize the potential of SACT-1.

About SACT-1

As part of Aptorum Group’s SMART-ACT platform, SACT-1 was discovered from our SMART-ACT platform focused on orphan and unmet diseases. SACT-1 is a repurposed drug targeted for the treatment of neuroblastoma (and potentially other cancer types) especially in combination with SOC chemotherapy. SACT-1’s mechanism has been demonstrated in vitro to enhance DNA damage and tumor cell death.