Making A Real Difference In Cancer Care
Pacylex Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage company developing a first-in-class, daily, oral cancer therapy with a novel, broad, mechanism of action, as a refractory cancer monotherapy and potential future combination therapy.
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Pacylex: Targeting myristoylation to selectively kill cancer.
Pacylex is developing zelenirstat, a first-in-class, once daily, oral cancer therapy with a novel, broad, mechanism of action. zelenirstat attacks the membrane-associated proteins at the root of cancer signaling in leukemia and lymphoma. By interrupting cancer signaling before it spreads to redundant pathways, zelenirstat offers a potent alternative to classic chemotherapies and immunotherapies to kill cancer cells. In an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial, zelenirstat has excellent bioavailability, half-life, safety profile, and drug exposure consistent with advancing the program to Phase 2 clinical studies. Pacylex is seeking Series B investors to support two Phase 2 programs in leukemia (AML) and lymphoma (DLBCL) that can lead to registration filings by 2025, and an expansion study in solid tumor patients.
Our diagnostic technology identifies those patients who will benefit from our drug, sparing many patients needless treatment. We are able to do this through our discovery that a subset of patients across many cancer types have lost one of the two proteins required for myristoylation, N-myristoyl transferase 2 (NMT2). This protein loss presents a therapeutic opportunity for our drug candidate, zelenirstat.
NMT2 Loss
NMT2 expression is lost in numerous cancers. The prevalence of the loss reaches 70- 82% in several leukemias and lymphomas. This NMT2 loss appears to promote tumorigenesis but also exposes an Achilles heel that allows new treatment strategies.
zelenirstat
Our drug is an orally bio-available small molecule that is optimized for NMT inhibition. zelenirstat has promising attributes of a one pill per day dose strategy and has been shown to be active across many cancer types.
Sensitivity Biomarker
We find 19 types of cancer have our sensitivity biomarker, at a prevalence of 5% to 80% of individual cancers. Sensitivity biomarkers are more common in blood and immune system cancers.
Targeting Urgent Needs
Despite major advances in cancer care, many patients don’t survive long after their diagnosis. Fewer than one third of patients diagnosed with lung cancer or acute myeloid leukemia survive for 5 years. Our lead cancer drug eliminates leukemia and lymphoma tumors and inhibits lung and breast cancer tumors in many animal models including with drug resistant patient tumor tissue. We are working now to bring this new medicine to human clinical studies.
Progress for zelenirstat
Pacylex Latest News
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