Onconova Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ONTX) and Pangea Biomed have announced a research collaboration aimed at finding biomarkers of response to Onconova’s investigational product candidate rigosertib.
The two companies will be leveraging Pangea Biomed’s algorithmic platform, ENLIGHT, to help identify these biomarkers. This collaboration is an exciting step forward in the pursuit of precision oncology, with the hope of bringing improved treatments to cancer patients.
Rigosertib is a powerful drug with a unique, multifaceted mechanism of action. It targets proteins containing the RAS binding domain, allowing it to modulate the PI3K and PLK1 pathways, as well as the tumor immune microenvironment.
Clinical trials have demonstrated rigosertib’s anti-cancer effects and its potential for use in combination with checkpoint inhibition in KRAS-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. It has also been used as a monotherapy to treat advanced squamous cell carcinoma in patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a rare condition driven by PLK1 overexpression.
“Rigosertib has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of a range of solid cancers, thanks to its ability to inhibit PLK1 and modulate the tumor immune microenvironment. Through a partnership with Pangea’s AI platform, Onconova is now leveraging predictive biomarkers of response to rigosertib in order to inform a precision medicine approach to selecting additional PLK1-dependent tumors and other indications for its potential evaluation. This innovative approach could greatly improve the success rate of rigosertib’s future development programs.”
Precision medicine is the future of oncology, but existing biomarker approaches are not always accurate enough to identify promising treatments for all patients. That’s why Pangea Biomed’s ENLIGHT platform is so important.
It goes beyond traditional biomarkers to expand the potential patient population for targeted therapies and discover new biomarkers for existing drugs. We are excited to partner with Onconova to bring this revolutionary platform to their development of rigosertib and make the promise of precision medicine a reality for more cancer patients.
Onconova and Pangea Biomed have joined forces to leverage the power of Pangea Biomed’s ENLIGHT platform, a pan-cancer response predictor, to uncover genetic interactions related to the PLK1 protein in order to identify biomarkers of response to Onconova’s rigosertib therapy.
The platform will further be applied to generate additional genetic interaction maps around other pathways targeted by the therapy. Through their collaboration, Onconova will retain all rights to rigosertib and own any intellectual property that may arise from the research.
About Onconova Therapeutics, Inc.
At Onconova Therapeutics, our mission is to develop life-saving treatments for patients with cancer. We take pride in our pioneering work to create innovative medicines that target specific pathways to inhibit cancer cell growth. Our experienced team is devoted to bringing revolutionary therapies to those in need.
Onconova is pushing the boundaries of medicine with their novel and proprietary multi-kinase inhibitor narazaciclib (formerly ON 123300). Currently, two Phase 1 dose escalation and expansion studies are being conducted in the United States and China, and Onconova is planning a combination trial of narazaciclib with estrogen blockade in advanced endometrial cancer.
Additionally, further clinical studies are in the pipeline to explore the potential of narazaciclib in other indications.
Onconova is exploring the potential of its product candidate rigosertib in multiple investigator-sponsored studies, including a groundbreaking Phase 1/2a study that combines oral rigosertib with nivolumab for KRAS+ non-small cell lung cancer patients, and a Phase 2 program to evaluate rigosertib monotherapy in advanced squamous cell carcinoma related to recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB-associated SCC).
These trials could pave the way for cutting-edge treatments that could significantly improve the quality of life of many patients.
About Pangea Biomed
Pangea Biomed, established in 2018, is changing the way cancer is treated with the world’s most advanced multi-cancer, multi-therapy response predictor – ENLIGHT. By combining machine learning and deep RNA analysis, they are creating tumor molecular signatures to personalize cancer care and improve outcomes.
With backing from NFX, their technology has been published in top journals such as Cell, Med, Science Advances, Cancer Cell, Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, and Nature Communications. Pangea is striving to empower oncologists to treat patients with success and bring effective precision oncology to cancer patients around the world.