BerGenBio ASA (OSE: BGBIO) has announced that it has entered into a clinical trial agreement with the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AV to study BerGenBio’s selective AXL inhibitor, bemcentinib in combination with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum’s pacritinib in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma.
BerGenBio ASA is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, selective AXL kinase inhibitors for severe unmet medical needs. The company’s bemcentinib is a first-in-class, selective oral once-a-day inhibitor of AXL receptor tyrosine kinase and is recognized as a promising therapeutic target for serious diseases. The study is complementary to BerGenBio’s ongoing Phase 1b and 2a clinical study in first-line non-small cell lung cancer patients with mutations in the STK11 gene.
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum is a specialized international biopharmaceutical company. Its pacritinib is a JAK2 inhibitor that blocks growth factors and cytokines. Pacritinib, marketed as VONJO, is indicated for the treatment of the bone marrow disorder, myelofibrosis.
The clinical study, led by UT Health San Antonio’s thoracic oncologist, Josephine A. Taverna, MD, as lead investigator, aims to advance her research which has demonstrated that AXL and JAK-STAT3 work together to transmit signals that promote tumor growth and metastasis in advanced lung cancer.
“Our data suggests that targeting the AXL-STAT3 pathway with bemcentinib and pacritinib can prevent tumor cells from recruiting tumor-associated macrophages and other aggressive host cells into tumor microenvironment, disrupting tumour growth and metastatic spread. Understanding this discovery could shed light on novel therapeutic strategies for lung cancer,” said Dr. Taverna.
The study is funded by a grant received from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
