iOnctura expands pipeline and receives development grant from Health Holland and KWF

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May 03, 2023, 03:30 ET

Licensing deal gives iOnctura exclusive global development rights to novel TGFβ pathway inhibitor IOA-359
Pipeline expansion builds on iOnctura's strategy of targeting multiple cancer survival pathways with a single drug; in this case targeting therapy resistance and immune evasion pathways in addition to IOA-359's direct effects on the tumor
Grant will accelerate iOnctura's preclinical investigation of this small molecule inhibitor in cancer

GENEVA and AMSTERDAM, May 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- iOnctura, a clinical-stage biotech developing selective cancer therapies against targets that play critical roles in multiple tumor survival pathways, today announces it has exercised an exclusive option with Clavius Pharmaceuticals, adding the novel oral TGF-β pathway inhibitor, IOA-359, to its pipeline. The Company also announces it has, in collaboration with the University of Twente (UT), been awarded a grant from Health Holland and KWF (Dutch Cancer Society), reflecting the potential of IOA-359.

Under the terms of the licence agreement, iOnctura is solely responsible for the global development and commercialisation of the small molecule inhibitor. The TGF-β pathway plays a critical role in promoting tumor aggressiveness, immune escape and resistance to therapy, making it an attractive target for cancer therapy. Previous attempts to interrupt TGF-β pathway signaling in cancer have been thwarted by drug-associated toxicities and activation of resistance pathways by the tumor. By developing a safe TGF-β pathway inhibitor and characterising the resistance mechanisms that typically arise when targeting the TGF-β pathway alone, iOnctura's data-driven precision oncology methods are being used to design novel, safe combination treatments that promise to override tumor survival resistance pathways.

Supplementing iOnctura's internal preclinical investigations, the KWF grant led by Dr Ruchi Bansal, Assistant Professor of Medical Cell BioPhysics, will utilise UT's unique model system to provide iOnctura with a valuable preclinical pharmacology package for IOA-359.

Catherine Pickering, Chief Executive Officer of iOnctura, said: "IOA-359 is an exciting addition to our preclinical pipeline. TGF-β is an established target in oncology yet we are the first company applying precision methods to intelligently combine targeting this pathway alongside other tumor survival and resistance pathways. We recently demonstrated that the autotaxin/LPA pathway has a role in mediating TGF-β resistance in pancreatic cancer and are excited to further explore combining IOA-359 with our autotaxin inhibitor, IOA-289, preclinically."

About iOnctura

iOnctura is a clinical-stage biotech developing selective cancer therapies against targets that play critical roles in multiple tumor survival pathways such as cellular proliferation; escape from immune detection; and drug resistance. iOnctura's pioneering approach to drug development is expected to offer significant clinical benefits over the traditional approach of targeting a single pathway alone. iOnctura has progressed two therapeutic candidates into mid-stage clinical development: IOA-244, a first-in-class allosteric modulator of PI3Kδ; and IOA-289, a highly-selective, non-competitive autotaxin (ATX) inhibitor. IOA-359, a TGF– β pathway inhibitor is also under-going an extensive pre-clinical program in preparation for first-in-human studies. iOnctura is backed by specialist institutional investors including M Ventures, Inkef Capital, VI Partners, Schroders Capital, and 3B Future Health Fund. iOnctura BV is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands with its wholly owned Swiss subsidiary, iOnctura SA, located in Geneva, Switzerland.

About IOA-359

IOA–359 is a novel oral TGF–β pathway inhibitor that will be evaluated in solid tumors. Activation of the TGF-β signaling pathway in tumors correlates with tumor aggressiveness, immune escape and resistance to therapy, making it an attractive target for cancer therapy. The inhibition of TGF-β signaling with IOA-359 is expected to attenuate cancer progression through direct effects on cancer, immune and stromal cells. By characterising the resistance mechanisms that typically arise when targeting the TGF-β pathway alone, iOnctura's data-driven precision oncology methods are being used to design novel combination treatments that promise to override tumor survival pathways.

SOURCE iOnctura