Genprex, Inc., a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes, announced it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with the University of Michigan, granting Genprex a worldwide, exclusive license to the University’s patent rights relating to its lead drug candidate, Reqorsa Gene Therapy (quaratusugene ozeplasmid), in combination with ALK-inhibitors for the potential treatment of ALK-EML4 positive translocated lung cancer.
“We continue to bolster our intellectual property portfolio for REQORSA, understanding that our lead drug candidate may benefit patients with many types of cancers,” said Thomas Gallagher, Esq., Senior Vice President of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Genprex. “Positive preclinical data indicate that REQORSA in combination with ALK inhibitors may provide benefit to patients with ALK-positive (ALK+) lung cancer. We are pleased to be able to protect this drug combination for a new subset of lung cancer patients, which widens our exclusivity of drug combinations with REQORSA and enhances our intellectual property position.”
REQORSA in combination with ALK inhibitors could be a potential therapeutic treatment for ALK+ lung cancer. TUSC2 is a tumor suppressor gene that is frequently deleted in lung cancer. In fact, approximately 82% of all NSCLCs lack or express decreased amounts of TUSC2 tumor suppressor protein. ALK translocations are found in approximately 5% of NSCLCs. Research collaborators at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center’s Judith Tam ALK Lung Cancer Research Initiative presented positive preclinical data at the April 2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, reporting that REQORSA induced apoptosis in alectinib resistant EML4-ALK positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines.
The study found that the use of REQORSA or a TUSC2-containing plasmid to overexpress TUSC2 in ALK+ NSCLC cell lines was effective in decreasing cell growth and proliferation through the activation of apoptotic pathways. Researchers believe the results of this preclinical work support further clinical study of REQORSA as an anti-ALK NSCLC treatment strategy. Genprex believes this research suggests that REQORSA may be an effective treatment in patients progressing on ALK inhibitors.