We are encouraged and excited to share ground-breaking news from Nurix Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical partner in WM-NET, our growing network of 22 US research institutions coordinating Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia (WM) clinical trials, supported by Accelerate the Cure Campaign.
Nurix recently received FDA fast-track designation for its clinical trial of NX-5948, a BTK degrader drug candidate. Nurix has reported that NX-5948 is “highly potent against a range of tumor-cell lines with BTK-inhibitor resistance.” FDA fast-track status expediates development of therapeutics that have demonstrated the potential to address critical medical needs.
Of the roughly 20,000 proteins in the human body, around 600 of them seem to be associated with cancer. The human body has a natural cell degradation system that gets rid of damaged or unneeded proteins, and researchers have been attempting to leverage this degradation mechanism for therapeutic purposes. Nurix recently reported success at harnessing this degrader system to go after proteins that stimulate cancer cell survival. Patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and lymphomas – including WM – are in the trial.
Expect to hear a lot more about this new treatment modality – targeted protein degradation (TPD) – as it works differently than traditional drug delivery. In the case of BTK inhibitors that have revolutionized care for WM patients, a drug molecule attaches to a protein, named Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, and reduces the protein’s activity. Unfortunately, inhibitors don’t always fully stop the protein from functioning and protein mutations tend to develop that don’t respond to these inhibitors over time. In a distinctly different and novel fashion, the BTK degrader NX-5948 binds and tags the BTK for elimination by the body’s own degradation system.
Individuals in phase one clinical trials show very promising results in patients with relapsed disease. The treatment is in pill form. The estimated trial completion date is January 2027.
For information about enrollment in this clinical trial, go to: https://www.nurixtx.com/targeted-protein-degradation-for-patients/
Watch the excitement of Dr. Kim Linton, a principal investigator on the NX-5948 trial from The University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust,
Manchester, UK.