New Data Suggests Potential for RON as a Target for Treatment of Pathogenic Bone Loss
Singapore, 15 February 2017 – ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (ASLAN), a biotech company focused on the development of immunotherapies and targeted agents for Asia prevalent tumour types, today announced that the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine has published new data from a phase 1 study of ASLAN002 (BMS777607), a potent small-molecule dual inhibitor of the cMET receptor tyrosine kinase and RON kinase. The data show that inhibition of RON reduces osteoclast bone absorption and indicate that RON signalling in the osteoclast is a new target for treating pathogenic bone loss in the settings of osteoporosis and bone lytic cancers such as breast, lung, prostate, kidney and thyroid.
Chronic bone loss is often observed in patients with cancer, osteoporosis, ageing and other diseases. Many of these patients experience decreased bone density due to overactive destruction of the bone matrix by osteoclasts that are resistant to treatment. Despite current therapies, 30 to 50% of patients with bone metastasis eventually progress to develop new bone lesions and skeletal complications1.
The new phase 1 ASLAN002 (BMS777607) data, in a study ASLAN conducted in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Professor Alana Welm, University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute, USA, show that inhibition of RON resulted in suppression of plasma C-terminal telopeptide (CTX), an established biomarker of osteoclast activity. ASLAN002 (BMS777607) was shown to alter markers of bone turnover, indicating the molecule’s potential for normalising bone loss in patients.
Dr Mark McHale, Chief Operating Officer of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals said: “The results from these data are very encouraging especially when current treatments of bone metastasis have not significantly improved disease progression in lytic bone cancers or improved the quality of life for patients with these devastating diseases.
“This paper is also testament to the expertise of Professor Alana Welm’s team and ASLAN’s clinical development capability in developing a unique investigational programme that has uncovered this exciting biology of RON kinase and provided the potential to treat several diseases of high unmet medical need.”
The article titled “RON kinase: A target for treatment of cancer-induced bone destruction and osteoporosis” was first published on January 25, 2017, and can be accessed here: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/9/374/eaai9338
