Calithera Biosciences, a clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing small molecule drugs to treat cancer and life-threatening diseases, recently announced that it has treated the first patient in an open-label Phase 1/2 clinical trial of Glutaminase inhibitor telaglenastat combined with Pfizer’s CDK 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib, alternatively called Ibrance.
The study will be evaluating the anti-tumor activity and safety of telaglenastat-pluspalbociclib combination in patients with KRAS-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer (CRC).
President and chief executive officer at Calithera, Susan Molineaux said that preclinical data indicate palbociclib and telaglenastat perform synergistically in KRAS-mutated tumors, which will offer a different approach to the challenges that are associated with the treatment of KRAS-mutated cancers.
The company is looking forward to launching a second trial with Pfizer and expect that the combination of telaglenastat and palbociclib will fill a major treatment gap for both the medical professionals and patients, Molineaux mentioned.
Apparently, telaglenastat is designed in a way that it is capable of blocking glutamine consumption in tumor cells. Telaglenastat reportedly showed synergistic antitumor effects in a preclinical KRAS-mutated cancer models. It was used with CDK4/6 inhibitors like palbociclib, that enhanced blocking of cancer cell proliferation and cell cycle arrest.
According to reliable sources, the Phase 1/2 clinical trial will be evaluating the anti-tumor activity and the safety of the combination of telaglenastat and palbociclib in patients suffering with locally advanced KRAS-mutated NSCLC or KRAS-mutated CRC, both of which are intolerant to standard therapies and refractory.
For the record, Calithera has initiated a second trial that is part of the Pfizer’s current clinical trial agreement. The first trial is reportedly testing the combination of telaglenastat with PARP inhibitor talazaporib. It is underway in patients with triple negative breast cancer ( TNBC), CRC and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The first trial begun enrolling patients in March and Pfizer will provide talazoparib and palbociclib along with monetary support as per the agreement.