A company developing a new generation of low-toxicity kinase inhibitors for treating cancer has raised almost half of the $3.5 million it’s targeting in the midst of a phase 1 clinical trial.
TyroGeneX is developing a targeted small molecule drug for solid tumors that it says could overcome the toxicity limitations and dosing holiday requirements of currently approved cancer drugs. The compound oral drug, X-82, is a dual VEGFR/PDGFR inhibitor, like Pfizer’s Sutent and Bayer/Onyx’s Nexavar.
According to cancer.gov, X-82 has been shown to reduce tissue toxicity by 95 percent compared to first-generation kinase inhibitors.
A first in human clinical trial was initiated in February of last year in patients with advanced solid tumors.
Targeted cancer therapeutics is expected to be a $51 billion playing field by 2015, led by Big Pharmas like Pfizer, Roche and Novartis. But that playing field is already crowded with at least 79 new drugs that are in phase 2 or higher trials.
Formed in 2006, TyroGeneX is part of the Xcovery Group of companies founded by Sherry Snyder and Chris Liang to develop next-generation targeted therapeutics for cancer. The company raised $970,000 last year.
