Sirnaomics and Innovent Biologics announced the two companies have entered a strategic collaboration to conduct clinical studies, using Sirnaomics' RNAi drug candidate STP705 (cotsiranib) and Innovent's antibody drug Tyvyt® (sintilimab injection), for combination treatment in advanced cancers, such as Hepatocellular Carcinomas (HCC) and Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), with high unmet need in the US.
"This collaborative effort between Sirnaomics and Innovent will be the first example of a combination strategy using an RNAi drug candidate together with an approved immune checkpoint antibody drug for the treatment of liver cancers,” Patrick Lu, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sirnaomics, said. “This represents an important clinical approach for combating these deadly diseases where the silencing of gene targets that reduce T-cell access and activity may augment the activity of checkpoint inhibitors in liver cancer."
"Sirnaomics is very excited to enter into this collaboration agreement with Innovent to potentially bring lifesaving therapies to patients with Hepatocellular Cancers,” Michael Molyneaux, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Sirnaomics, said. “It is well known that, despite recent advances in cancer therapies, HCC is still a deadly form of liver cancer with high unmet need. Our pre-clinical Proof of Concept oncology data has consistently demonstrated single agent efficacy with STP705 in HCC and our most recent work on mechanism of action strongly suggest that the use of our lead asset (STP705) in combination with antibody therapies could greatly benefit patients with HCC. Innovent has a very strong track record for innovation and execution in the clinical space and a shared vision of bringing lifesaving therapies to their patients. We believe that combining Sirnaomics novel siRNA technology with Innovent's cutting edge antibody therapies has the potential to significantly improve the current treatment landscape for patients with Hepatocellular Cancer."
Sirnaomics' leading product candidate, STP705, is an siRNA (small interfering RNA) therapeutic which takes advantage of a dual-targeted inhibitory property and polypeptide nanoparticle (PNP)-enhanced delivery to directly knock down both TGF-β1 and COX-2 gene expression. The product candidate has received multiple IND approvals from both the US FDA and Chinese NMPA, including treatments of Cholangiocarcinoma, Non-Melanoma skin cancer and Hypertrophic Scar. STP705 has also received Orphan Drug Designation for treatment of Cholangiocarcinoma and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. STP705 has demonstrated a dramatic improvement in T-cell penetration into tumors in the liver with single agent action as well as improvement in the efficacy of an anti-PD-L1 antibody checkpoint inhibitor in an HCC model. This effect may improve other immune checkpoint inhibitor efficacies in addition to those targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis.
Tyvyt® (sintilimab injection), an innovative drug jointly developed in China by Innovent and Lilly, was granted marketing approval by the NMPA for r/r cHL in 2018, and included in the 2019 Guidelines of Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) for Lymphoid Malignancies. Tyvyt® (sintilimab injection) has been the only anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody included in the NRDL since 2019.
Tyvyt® (sintilimab injection) is a type of immunoglobulin G4 monoclonal antibody, which binds to PD-1 molecules on the surface of T-cells, blocks the PD-1/ PD-1 Ligand-1 (PD-L1) pathway and reactivates T-cells to kill cancer cells. Innovent is currently conducting more than 20 clinical studies for sintilimab injection to evaluate its safety and efficacy in a wide variety of cancer indications, including eight registration or pivotal clinical trials. Innovent is also conducting clinical studies of sintilimab injection in the United States.