Image by Lance Liotta
AML cells
The European Commission has granted orphan drug designation to onvansertib for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Onvansertib (formerly PCM-075) is an oral adenosine triphosphate competitive inhibitor of the serine/threonine Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) enzyme, which is overexpressed in hematologic and solid tumor malignancies.
Trovagene, Inc., the company developing onvansertib, said the drug has a 24-hour half-life with reversible, on-target hematologic activity.
These factors, combined with an improved dose/scheduling protocol, could mean onvansertib will improve upon long-term outcomes observed in previous studies with a PLK inhibitor in AML.
This includes a phase 2 study in which AML patients who received a PLK inhibitor plus low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) had a higher response rate than patients who received LDAC alone—31% and 13.3%, respectively.
Trovagene said preclinical studies have shown that onvansertib synergizes with more than 10 drugs used to treat hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. This includes FLT3 and HDAC inhibitors, taxanes, and cytotoxins.
Trovagene is now conducting a phase 1b/2 trial of onvansertib in combination with standard care (LDAC or decitabine) in patients with AML (NCT03303339).
The company has already completed a phase 1 dose-escalation study of onvansertib in patients with advanced metastatic solid tumor malignancies. Results from this study were published in Investigational New Drugs.
About orphan designation
Orphan drug designation in Europe is available to companies developing products intended to treat a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition that affects fewer than 5 in 10,000 people in the European Union (EU).
The designation allows for financial and regulatory incentives that include 10 years of marketing exclusivity in the EU after product approval, eligibility for conditional marketing authorization, protocol assistance from the European Medicines Agency at reduced fees during the product development phase, and direct access to centralized marketing authorization in the EU.