Syntrix Wins $3.4M NIH Grant to Conduct Phase 1/2 Trial of SX-682 in Myelodysplastic Syndrome

AUBURN, Wash., Feb. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --  Syntrix Pharmaceuticals announced this week that it has been awarded a three-year grant worth $3.4 million from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to assess its investigational CXCR1/2 inhibitor SX-682 in patients with low- and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who had progression or were intolerant to prior therapy.  The phase 1/2 clinical trial will be carried out in collaboration with researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center led by Dr. Rami Kamrokji.

"Patients with low-risk MDS have an expected median survival measured in years, but suffer from hematologic deficits and related symptoms that lead to transfusion dependence," said Syntrix's President John Zebala.  "Patients with high-risk MDS have debilitating cytopenias and borderline leukemia, and can have expected survival measured in months."

Only three drugs have received regulatory approval for MDS treatment, all with suboptimal response rates (<50%) and of limited durability (1-2 years).  Once these agents fail in patients, there is no second-line treatment.  Prognosis after failure is dismal, with median survival estimated at <6 months for higher-risk patients, and <18 months for lower-risk patients.

The Phase 1/2 clinical trial of SX-682 builds on groundbreaking discoveries by investigators at the Moffitt Cancer Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine who showed CXCR1/2 is pivotal in MDS and that its inhibition is a therapeutic strategy against the disease.

This Phase 1/2 trial in MDS patients will test the hypothesis that targeting CXCR1/2 with SX-682 will be efficacious in the disease by eliminating the MDS stem cells and bone marrow MDSCs.  The FDA approved the protocol for the study in an IND sponsored by Syntrix.

ABOUT SX-682: SX-682 is a clinical-stage oral allosteric small-molecule inhibitor of CXCR1 and CXCR2 (CXCR1/2).  Inhibiting both human receptors is believed essential. CXCR1/2 are a combined "master switch" of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Clinical studies in melanoma, breast, ovarian, prostate and colon cancer have shown a direct correlation between serum levels of CXCR1/2 ligands and disease progression. SX-682 has been validated in all major solid tumor models, where it exhibits mono-agent anti-tumor activity, blocks metastasis, depletes immunosuppressive myeloid cells, activates tumor killing by effector cells, reverses chemo-resistance, and potently synergizes with anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD1.  SX-682 is also being evaluated in solid tumors supported by the National Cancer Institute.

ABOUT SYNTRIX: Syntrix is a pharmaceutical company committed to discovering and delivering innovative therapies to solve the most difficult clinical problems. Convergent Science & Strategy. Breakthrough Medicines.

DISCLOSURE NOTICE: This release contains forward-looking information that is based on company management's current beliefs and expectations and are subject to currently unknown information, risks and circumstances. Actual results may vary from what is projected.  Syntrix does not undertake any obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Contact: Aaron Schuler, Ph.D., 253-833-8009, x21

SOURCE Syntrix Pharmaceuticals