April 17, 2015
By Riley McDermid and Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Lexington, Mass.-based Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. saw a nice boost in Friday trading today, as investors sat eagerly on the sidelines awaiting the Phase III trial results of its promising cancer drug ganetespib, after the company said that it will present some initial findings next week at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Philadelphia.
The company also worded its announcement in a way that has analysts and market watchers predicting Synta has found a complementary drug to combine with ganetespib that might make it more effective.
Synta saw its share price climb 7 percent, a solid boost for a company that has seen its share price freefall 67 percent since 2013. Those gains have since corrected a bit, pushing Synta’s stock back down to $2.92 in noon trading.
The company said Thursday that two of next week’s presentations will update information on ganetespib, which is being tested on advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The Boston Business Journal reported that Synta may also have found a separate drug to add, which may create an effective combo.
“Although the company described the data to be presented as pre-clinical, the headline of the abstract planned for Sunday suggests the company may have found another drug that overcomes resistance to ganetespib that can be used in tandem with it,” said the paper.
Ganetespib, which blocks heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) that facilitates cancerous tumor growth, is currently in Phase 3 development for the treatment of a broad range of cancers, including lung cancer with its GALAXY-2 clinical trial. Heat shock proteins assist proteins in the body to function properly, but with cancerous cells, can foster growth. Ganetespib would function as an Hsp90 inhibitor.
In addition, ganetespib is also in a Phase III clinical trial for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and Phase 2 clinical trials for ovarian and breast cancer. As part of its development plan for ganetespib, Synta is exploring certain biomarkers, which company officials expect may guide future development of the product, pending results of ongoing studies.
Synta has had a rocky two years, with analysts taking issue with its unimpressive trial results. The company moved to correct that by appointing a new CEO, Anne Whitaker, who promptly took an ax to the firm’s roster, laying off 20 percent of its workforce in February.
Synta said at the time that the workforce reduction will help shore up finances and streamline operations to allow the company to focus on its ganetespib pipeline. The company workforce has been reduced from 133 at the beginning of 2014 to 90 today.
The company plans to adjust to the workforce reduction through a consolidation of Synta’s office and laboratory facilities, which company officials believe will allow the company to be more flexible in its work with ganetespib
“The structural changes we are making within our organization, while difficult decisions, are necessary to help us realize this potential. We are extremely grateful for the contributions of those who will be leaving the company, and we all wish them much success in their future endeavors,” said Whitaker at the time.
In addition to a reduction in workforce, the company is also exploring cost-cutting measures through the divestiture of Synta’s IL-12/23 inhibitor program and its CRAC ion channel inhibitor program.
Company officials said they expect to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for its HDC drug candidate STA-12-8666, which could be used for pancreatic cancer patients, by the first quarter of 2016. In addition to STA-12-8666,
Synta expects to identify one additional HDC drug candidate to nominate for preclinical development by the end of 2015.
“Our ambition is to bring to market novel cancer medicines to treat patients battling cancer by leveraging our internal strengths in oncology research, development and commercialization, as well as external relationships with academia, investigators, and partners. The next several quarters hold tremendous potential for bearing out the value of our pipeline,” Whitaker said.
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