SUZHOU, China and ROCKVILLE, Md., June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Ascentage Pharma (6855.HK), a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing novel therapies for cancer, chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and age-related diseases, announced today that for the second consecutive year, it has released updated data of APG-2449, a novel FAK/ALK/ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) developed by Ascentage Pharma, in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in a Poster Discussion session at the 59th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
Showcasing progress in clinical development at the ASCO Annual Meeting for six consecutive years, Ascentage Pharma had clinical results from four clinical studies of four of the company’s lead drug candidates selected for presentations in 2023. Among these results, the updated clinical data of APG-2449 showed the potential as a new treatment option that can effectively overcome drug resistance through the targeted inhibition of FAK. These data indicated efficacy and safety of APG-2449 in patients with NSCLC, with 8 partial responses (PRs) in the 28 patients who had failed treatment with the second-generation ALK TKIs.
Developed by Ascentage Pharma, APG-2449 is an orally available, small-molecule FAK/ALK/ROS1 TKI and the first China-developed third-generation ALK inhibitor entering clinical development.
“APG-2449 is an effective multi-targeted inhibitor targeting FAK/ALK/ROS1. Compared to data released at the ASCO Annual Meeting last year, the updated results reported this year continuously indicated favourable safety and promising antitumor activity in patients with NSCLC, and the preliminary efficacy observed in patients who were resistant to second-generation ALK inhibitors was particularly encouraging,” said Prof. Li Zhang, the Principal Investigator of this study from Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center. “We believe that FAK inhibition could be a new treatment strategy for patients with NSCLC resistant…
