DALLAS, April 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lantern
Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical
company using its proprietary RADR® artificial intelligence
("A.I.") platform to transform oncology drug discovery and
development, announced a manuscript describing the efficacy profile
of LP-184 in a variety of non-small cell lung cancer models was
published in Oncotarget. The manuscript is titled 'The acylfulvene
alkylating agent, LP-184, retains nanomolar potency in non-small
cell lung cancer carrying otherwise therapy-refractory mutations'.
LP-184 is being developed by Lantern for the potential treatment of
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) among several other targeted
indications in solid tumors including pancreatic and CNS
cancers.
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The unmet clinical need where LP-184-based therapy could
potentially be valuable is for those non-small cell lung cancer
patients that are ineligible for targeted therapy options or have
developed resistance to other forms of therapy. Existing targeted
therapies, such as EGFR or ALK inhibitors, only work in specific,
genetically defined patient subsets. There's a sizable fraction of
lung cancers — 30 to 40 percent — that do not have those targetable
alterations, or have developed resistance to the current standard
of care therapies which can often leave lung cancer patients
without additional therapeutic options. According to Panna Sharma, CEO of Lantern Pharma, "More
people continue to die of lung cancer every year than any other
type of cancer, and significant improvements have been made in the
era of targeted and combination therapies; however, many lung
cancers rapidly evolve and form resistance to both targeted agents
and chemotherapy combinations, and there is a major clinical need
for new options and potentially extending patient lives further."
Mr. Sharma continued, "With this additional indication for our
DNA-damaging agent, LP-184, we continue to invest in the
development of therapeutic options for increasing the
personalization of therapy for lung cancer patients."
This publication in Oncotarget highlights LP-184's nanomolar in
vitro potency in primary and metastatic NSCLC models. It also
demonstrates that LP-184 is generally more potent in vitro than
commonly prescribed platin and taxane based chemotherapeutics.
Based on the research conducted, the activity profile of LP-184 is
not influenced by the presence of mutations in key oncogenes such
as KRAS or KEAP1 and tumor suppressors such as TP53 and STK11, that
otherwise underlie resistance to other drugs. LP-184 is believed to
be a promising drug candidate that can address the treatment of
KEAP1 mutant NSCLC, because the mutations up-regulate expression of
PTGR1, and increased PTGR1 in turn makes tumor cells increasingly
sensitive to LP-184.
Additionally, LP-184 showed tumor growth inhibition in a mouse
xenograft model of KRAS/KEAP1 mutant lung cancer. Co-occurring KRAS
and KEAP1 mutations occur in about 17 percent of lung
adenocarcinoma cases and are believed to represent an aggressive
form of lung cancer that is believed to be "undruggable". Lantern
Pharma has developed a genomic signature that is believed to
predict response in tumors that will be responsive to LP-184. This
correlation and pinpointing of clinical need were supported by
further TCGA analysis of 517 lung adenocarcinoma patients, out of
which 35% showed elevated PTGR1, and 40% of those further displayed
statistically significant co-occurrence of KEAP1 mutations.
Considering an overlap between LP-184-specific response biomarkers
and NSCLC-related genomic groups, we believe that the clinical data
analyses reveal patient subgroups with distinct molecular
backgrounds that are likely to be responders to LP-184 and benefit
from this drug candidate.
According to Mr. Sharma, "Using our data-driven approach we have
shown that not only can we find unique biomarkers that link to drug
response and mechanism, but we can also rapidly uncover clinically
meaningful patient subgroups that can benefit from our portfolio of
therapies." Mr. Sharma continued, "By understanding the genomic and
biomarker characteristics driving a compound's activity in various
sub types of cancer, we can rapidly develop new meaningful
indications that have the potential to deliver life changing
therapy options for cancer patients — and we can do this faster and
with better insights as a result or our RADR® platform. We will
continue to invest into increasing the data, scope and
functionality of the A.I. platform and expect that it will be able
to play a wider role in cancer therapy development.
Lantern is continuing to validate LP-184 sensitivity in advanced
lung tumor models both as monotherapy and in combination with drugs
prioritized by Lantern's RADR® models, to increase the potential
future benefit to patients with tumors that are or have become
otherwise "undruggable" or non-responsive to existing approved
therapies.
About Lantern Pharma
Lantern Pharma (LTRN) is a
clinical-stage oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company
leveraging its proprietary RADR® A.I. platform and machine learning
to discover biomarker signatures that identify patients most likely
to respond to its pipeline of genomically-targeted therapeutics.
Lantern is currently developing four drug candidates and an ADC
program across seven disclosed tumor targets, including two phase 2
programs. By targeting drugs to patients whose genomic profile
identifies them as having the highest probability of benefiting
from the drug, Lantern's approach represents the potential to
deliver best-in-class outcomes. More information is available at:
www.lanternpharma.com and Twitter @lanternpharma.
About LP-184
LP-184 is currently in multiple research
studies in collaboration with leading cancer research institutions.
With the assistance of our RADR® A.I. platform, LP-184's mechanism
of action has been well-characterized through numerous in silico
and in vivo studies and described in published peer-reviewed
articles. With observed nanomolar potency and blood brain barrier
permeability, LP-184 is an alkylating agent that works by causing
DNA damage in tumor cells. As shown by CRISPR gene editing
techniques, LP-184 activity is dependent upon the expression of
Prostaglandin Reductase 1 ("PTGR1"), which transforms LP-184 into
its bioactive form by the oxidoreductase activity of PTGR1.
Contact
Marek
Ciszewski, JD
Director, Investor Relations
628-777-3167
IR@lanternpharma.com
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking
statements include, among other things, statements relating to:
future events or our future financial performance; the potential
advantages of our RADR® platform in identifying drug candidates and
patient populations that are likely to respond to a drug candidate;
our strategic plans to advance the development of our drug
candidates and antibody drug conjugate (ADC) development program;
estimates regarding the development timing for our drug candidates
and ADC development program; our research and development efforts
of our internal drug discovery programs and the utilization of our
RADR® platform to streamline the drug development process; our
intention to leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning and
genomic data to streamline and transform the pace, risk and cost of
oncology drug discovery and development and to identify patient
populations that would likely respond to a drug candidate;
estimates regarding potential markets and potential market sizes;
sales estimates for our drug candidates and our plans to discover
and develop drug candidates and to maximize their commercial
potential by advancing such drug candidates ourselves or in
collaboration with others. Any statements that are not statements
of historical fact (including, without limitation, statements that
use words such as "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "could,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "seek," "may," "might," "plan,"
"potential," "predict," "project," "target," "aim," "should,"
"will," "would," or the negative of these words or other similar
expressions) should be considered forward-looking statements. There
are a number of important factors that could cause our actual
results to differ materially from those indicated by the
forward-looking statements, such as (i) the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic, (ii) the risk that none of our product candidates has
received FDA marketing approval, and we may not be able to
successfully initiate, conduct, or conclude clinical testing for or
obtain marketing approval for our product candidates; (iii) the
risk that no drug product based on our proprietary RADR A.I.
platform has received FDA marketing approval or otherwise been
incorporated into a commercial product, and (iv) those other
factors set forth in the Risk Factors section in our Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2020, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
March 10, 2021. You may access our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 under the investor SEC filings
tab of our website at www.lanternpharma.com or on the SEC's website
at www.sec.gov. Given these risks and uncertainties, we can give no
assurances that our forward-looking statements will prove to be
accurate, or that any other results or events projected or
contemplated by our forward-looking statements will in fact occur,
and we caution investors not to place undue reliance on these
statements. All forward-looking statements in this press release
represent our judgment as of the date hereof, and, except as
otherwise required by law, we disclaim any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements to conform the statement to actual
results or changes in our expectations.
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SOURCE Lantern Pharma