Arvinas Announces Pipeline Programs Targeting Validated and Classically “Undruggable” Disease-Causing Proteins
October 14 2020 - 7:00AM
Arvinas, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARVN), a clinical-stage biotechnology
company creating a new class of drugs based on targeted protein
degradation, today announced platform updates and disclosed five
additional programs from its preclinical pipeline. Arvinas’
portfolio encompasses a range of validated and undruggable targets
in oncology, immuno-oncology, and neuroscience.
“We continue to expand our pipeline and further our leadership
position in targeted protein degradation by leveraging the PROTAC®
Discovery Engine, our integrated platform that we’ve been advancing
since 2013,” said John Houston, Ph.D., President and Chief
Executive Officer of Arvinas. “With the programs introduced today,
and the important breakthroughs we’ve made over the years – such as
achieving oral bioavailability in human patients and successfully
penetrating the blood-brain barrier in preclinical studies – we
make it clear that we have the ability to rapidly progress Arvinas’
deep pipeline in order to benefit patients in multiple areas of
high unmet need.”
“The targets we announced today represent a mix of oncology,
immuno-oncology and neuroscience programs,” said Ian Taylor, Ph.D.,
Chief Scientific Officer of Arvinas. “Our progress with classic
‘undruggable’ targets like KRAS reinforces our commitment to
finding solutions for patients and demonstrates the power of
Arvinas’ PROTAC® Discovery Engine in generating novel
therapies.”
In addition to progressing its platform and preclinical
pipeline, Arvinas is testing two PROTAC® protein degraders in human
clinical trials: ARV-110 for the treatment of men with metastatic
castrate-resistant prostate cancer and ARV-471 for the treatment of
patients with locally advanced or metastatic ER+/HER2- breast
cancer. Arvinas plans to share updated data for these programs
later in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Newly Announced
Programs
BCL6 (Oncology)
- B-cell
lymphoma 6 protein (BCL6) is a
transcriptional repressor implicated in B cell lymphomas and
facilitates B cell tolerance of rapid proliferation and somatic
gene recombination via repressing cell cycle checkpoints, terminal
differentiation, apoptosis, and the DNA damage response.
PROTAC®-mediated degradation would address the scaffolding function
of BCL6. Arvinas anticipates filing an IND for this program in
2022.
KRAS
(Oncology)
- Kirsten rat
sarcoma (KRAS) is a classic “undruggable” target,
due to its lack of deep “pockets,” and is associated with poor
prognosis and resistance to standards of care in several tumor
types. Arvinas is developing pan-KRAS mutant and mutant-specific
KRAS degraders, e.g., G12D and G12V. Arvinas anticipates filing an
IND for this program in 2023.
Myc (Oncology)
- Myelocytomatosis (Myc)
proteins are implicated in up to 70% of all human cancers.
Targeting Myc indirectly, such as by inhibiting transcription
modulators, has not been successful, but PROTAC®-mediated
degradation has the potential to directly target and degrade Myc.
This is an Exploratory-stage program.
HPK1 (Immuno-oncology)
- Hematopoietic progenitor
kinase 1 (HPK1) is a suppressor of T cell
activation and targeting HPK1 can enhance anti-tumor immune
responses. PROTAC®-mediated degradation has the potential to
address the proposed scaffolding component of HPK1’s activity. This
is an Exploratory-stage program.
mHTT (Neuroscience)
- Huntington’s disease is caused by a mutation in the
huntingtin (HTT)
gene. PROTAC® degradation has the potential to allow the selective
targeting of mutant HTT protein without impacting wild-type HTT
protein. This is an Exploratory-stage program.
About ArvinasArvinas is a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the lives of
patients suffering from debilitating and life-threatening diseases
through the discovery, development, and commercialization of
therapies that degrade disease-causing proteins. Arvinas uses its
proprietary PROTAC® Discovery Engine platform to engineer
proteolysis targeting chimeras, or PROTAC® targeted protein
degraders, that are designed to harness the body’s own natural
protein disposal system to selectively and efficiently degrade and
remove disease-causing proteins. In addition to its robust
preclinical pipeline of PROTAC® protein degraders against validated
and “undruggable” targets, the company has two clinical-stage
programs: ARV-110 for the treatment of men with metastatic
castrate-resistant prostate cancer; and ARV-471 for the treatment
of patients with locally advanced or metastatic ER+/HER2- breast
cancer. For more information, visit www.arvinas.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release
contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks
and uncertainties, including statements regarding the development
and regulatory status of our product candidates, such as statements
with respect to our lead product candidates, ARV-110 and ARV-471
and other candidates in our pipeline, and the timing of clinical
trials and data from those trials, and our development programs
that may lead to our development of additional product candidates,
the potential utility of our technology and therapeutic potential
of our product candidates and the potential commercialization of
any of our product candidates. All statements, other than
statements of historical facts, contained in this press release,
including statements regarding our strategy, future operations,
prospects, plans and objectives of management, are forward-looking
statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,”
“expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,”
“target,” “potential,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,”
“continue,” and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking
statements contain these identifying words.
We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or
expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you
should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.
Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans,
intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking
statements we make as a result of various risks and uncertainties,
including but not limited to: whether we will be able to
successfully conduct Phase 1/2 clinical trials for ARV-110 and
ARV-471, complete our clinical trials for our other product
candidates, and receive results from our clinical trials on our
expected timelines, or at all, whether our cash resources will be
sufficient to fund our foreseeable and unforeseeable operating
expenses and capital expenditure requirements on our expected
timeline and other important factors discussed in the “Risk
Factors” sections contained in our quarterly and annual reports on
file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect
our current views with respect to future events, and we assume no
obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as
required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should
not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date
subsequent to the date of this press release.
Contacts for Arvinas
InvestorsWill O’Connor, Stern
Investor Relationsir@arvinas.com
MediaKirsten Owens, Arvinas
Communicationskirsten.owens@arvinas.com
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