May 1, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
NEWTON, Mass. --- Karyopharm Therapeutics will hire an additional 49 staff members and expand its physical footprint by 16,234 square feet at its current site in preparation for accelerated late-stage cancer drug trials and eventual federal approval, the Boston Business Journal reported reported Thursday night.
Karyopharm has been on a bit of a hiring spree, growing its employee base to 71 employees in 2014, more than double the number of 2013. The additional space for those new employees brings the company’s office and laboratory space to 46,167 square feet, which will be used to develop the three cancer drugs Karyopharm currently has in clinical trials, including the company’s lead drug selinexor, used to treat for hematological malignancies and solid tumors.
The company is expecting final data later this year and then will seek approval from federal regulators. Selinexor, an oral Selective Inhibitor of Nuclear Export (SINE) compound, was awarded orphan drug designation by both the U.S. and European regulatory authorities in multiple myeloma, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), including Richter’s transformation, the company announced last month.
Selinexor is being studied alone and in combination with other therapies in a variety of investigator-sponsored trials across both hematologic and solid tumor indications, Sharon Shacham, Karyopharm’s chief science officer and founder said in a statement.
Karyopharm’s SINE compounds function by binding with and inhibiting the nuclear export protein XPO1. Selinexor leads to the accumulation of tumor suppressor proteins in the cell nucleus, which subsequently reinitiates and amplifies their tumor suppressor function. This is believed to lead to the selective induction of apoptosis in cancer cells, while largely sparing normal cells, the company said on its website.
Over 700 patients have been treated with selinexor in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials in advanced hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company initiated three clinical trials of selinexor, one in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (SOPRA), one in patients with Richter’s transformation (SIRRT) and one in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (SADAL).
Earlier this month Karyopharm was issued a patent that covers the “composition-of-matter of Karyopharm‘s lead product candidate, selinexor (KPT-330)…, as well as certain other compositions and related methods,” the company said. The patent is good through 2032.
“XPO1 inhibition with SINE compounds such as selinexor has the potential to provide a novel, oral therapy that selectively enables tumor suppressor proteins to remain in the nucleus, promoting cancer cell apoptosis while sparing normal cells.
This selectivity for cancer cells offers the potential to minimize side effects and broadens its therapeutic scope across many cancer types, including both hematological and solid tumor malignancies,” Michael G. Kauffman, Karyopharm’s chief executive officer said in a statement.
