Researchers at the MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Therapeutics Discovery division and Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals reported the preclinical discovery and early-stage clinical development of IPN60090, a small-molecule inhibitor of the metabolic enzyme glutaminase (GLS1).
IPN60090, now under investigation in a phase I trial, may benefit certain patients with lung and ovarian cancers.
MD Anderson’s GLS1 program was initiated and advanced by a team of scientists in the Institute for Applied Cancer Science and Translational Research to Advance Therapeutics and Innovation in Oncologyplatforms, both engines within Therapeutics Discovery. Development of the program continues in collaboration with Ipsen, which licensed the therapeutic in 2018.
Findings and information about the ongoing trial were presented April 27 at the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research virtual annual meeting I by Jeffrey Kovacs, institute group leader with TRACTION and co-leader of the GLS1 program.
IACS drug-discovery scientists identified IPN60090 as a potent and selective inhibitor of GLS1 suitable for clinical trials, and translational researchers in TRACTION demonstrated its activity against subsets of lung and ovarian cancer preclinical models.
Further analysis revealed biomarkers of response, which have been leveraged to identify patients most likely to benefit. In lung cancers, mutations in the KEAP1 and NFE2L2 genes, which regulate response to oxidative stress, sensitize cells to treatment with IPN60090. Similarly, low expression of the metabolic protein asparagine synthetase (ASNS) in ovarian cancers predicts response to IPN60090 in preclinical models.
IPN60090 is under investigation in a phase I dose-escalation and dose-expansion study for patients with advanced solid tumors that harbor KEAP1/NFE2L2 mutations or have low ASNS levels.
