Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Machavert Pharmaceuticals, a preclinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on precision medicine cancer therapies, announced today that it has obtained a full exclusive license on RAL GTPase (RAL) inhibitors from the University of Colorado. The licensed patent portfolio covers small molecule RAL inhibitors against KRAS mutant cancers.
Machavert will advance the new class of cancer therapeutics, RAL GTPase inhibitors, targeting KRAS mutant cancers. The RAL inhibitors were discovered at the University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU) and relevant research was published in Nature in 2014. Machavert has been developing the RAL inhibitors since it entered into an exclusive option and evaluation license agreement in 2018 with CU for its RAL related intellectual property. The exercise of the option rights represents a significant advancement of this project toward the IND-enabling stage.
KRAS mutant cancers are linked to nearly one-third of all cancers and are difficult to treat. The novel RAL inhibition approach addresses treatment complexities and provides promise for anti-cancer therapy. RAL GTPases are effectors of RAS signaling and play a role in tumor proliferation, survival, and metastasis. A significant advantage to targeting RAL is the applicability against all subtypes of KRAS mutations and the potential to inhibit tumor metastasis and recurrence.
"Drugging the RAL GTPase pathway offers promise to achieving efficacy against multiple human cancers, including lung cancer. This unique therapeutic approach will be advantageous for patients who currently have few precision medicine treatment options for KRAS mutant cancers," said Dr. Neal Goodwin, Chief Scientific Officer of Machavert. "The applicability of these molecules will go beyond lung cancer toward other KRAS mutant solid tumors such as colon cancer."
The RAL inhibitors are being investigated pre-clinically to complete necessary lead optimization and efficacy testing in preparation of initiating IND enabling studies, a prerequisite for seeking FDA IND approval for human clinical trial entry.
