Kazia Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:KZA, NASDAQ:KZIA) is ready to showcase data for its paxalisib and EVT801 pipeline molecules to scientists from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) later this month.
The oncology-focused drug developer will present new data at the AACR’s annual meeting, scheduled to commence on April 14 in Orlando, Florida.
Kazia will make five presentations, four of which build on previous positive data for paxalisib in melanoma and childhood brain cancer.
The final presentation (conducted by scientists at Kazia partner Evotec) will outline the novel biomarker strategy employed in its Phase I EVT801 study.
Kazia believes new paxalisib data supports and directs the candidate’s future development in expansion indications, while the EVT801 presentation anticipates potential, early-stage clinical data that’s expected in 2023.
Exploring new possibilities
Kazia CEO Dr James Garner said the wide range of presentations speaks to breadth of work across the company’s clinical pipeline.
“The promising new data from Professors Holmen and Rubens, in melanoma and childhood brain cancer respectively, reinforces the significance of these new opportunities for paxalisib.”
“Moreover, Kazia’s ongoing collaboration with Evotec remains extremely fruitful, with excellent work from the biomarker team opening the possibility of rational patient selection in clinical trials.
“Of note, biomarker strategy is an important area of focus for FDA, and drug candidates with biomarker selection are potentially more likely to achieve approval than those without.”
Research briefs
Among others, Kazia’s presentations will showcase research from oncological scientist Dr Gennie Parkman and her colleagues, who work at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
The team’s research shows paxalisib leading to ‘substantially increased overall survival’ in a mouse model of BRAF-driven melanoma.
In addition, data from Dr Tyler Findlay and Dr Kristen Malebranche from Johns Hopkins University Medical School has shown compelling evidence of synergy between paxalisib, gemcitabine (a chemotherapy agent) and mirdametinib (a targeted therapy) in animal models of atypical teratoid / rhabdoid tumors (AT/RT) — a childhood brain cancer.
This data expands on positive data for paxalisib as monotherapy and in other combination regimens that was presented at AACR in 2022, while the results suggest potential therapeutic approaches for use in clinical trials.
An additional abstract by Dr Hyuk Jean Kwon and colleagues at Professor Rubens’ lab describes in vitro preclinical data for the combination of paxalisib with a dual inhibitor of ACVR1 and MEK in diffuse midline gliomas, a category of childhood brain cancers which includes DIPG.
The data showed strong synergy between the two agents and points to further research in this area.
Finally, a poster presentation by Dr Michael Paillaisse and colleagues at Evotec SE describes some of the novel biomarker selection strategies employed in the ongoing Phase I study of EVT801 in advanced solid cancers.
The poster outlines the approaches taken by the Evotec team to identify VEGFR3 expression in a range of tissues, potentially allowing for the selection of clinical trial patients who are likely to be more responsive to EVT801.