Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALRN) said it expects to initiate Phase 1B randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of novel chemoprotective agent ALRN-6924 in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer in FY21.
The company out of Watertown, Mass. provided in December a business update and outlined its strategic priorities for 2021, including announcing more details about the design and conduct of a Phase 1b randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of ALRN-6924 in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing treatment with first-line carboplatin doublet chemotherapy (with or without immune checkpoint inhibitors), planned to begin enrolling in the second quarter of 2021.
Aileron is developing ALRN-6924 as a novel medicine to selectively protect healthy cells in patients with cancers that harbor p53 mutations to reduce or eliminate chemotherapy-induced side effects while preserving chemotherapy’s activity on cancer cells, a concept known as chemoprotection.
"2020 has been a year of important progress for Aileron, most notably achieving clinical proof-of-concept for ALRN-6924 as a chemoprotective agent in patients with p53-mutated small cell lung cancer (SCLC) undergoing treatment with topotecan," said CEO Manuel Aivado.
"In 2021, we aim to make further strides in our clinical development efforts by initiating a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of ALRN-6924 in patients with advanced NSCLC. This trial represents a key step toward advancing our vision to bring chemoprotection to all patients with p53-mutant cancer regardless of cancer type or chemotherapy. We believe chemoprotection has the potential to transform chemotherapy similar to the way anesthesia transformed surgery."
ALRN shares gained 22 cents, or 20.9%, to $1.26.
