Predicine, Kintor Pharmaceuticals Launch Precision Oncology Partnership

Predicine said it will partner with Suzhou Kintor Pharmaceuticals to accelerate the speed and efficiency of biomarker-driven trials for Kintor’s novel oncology drugs, as well as develop companion diagnostics for FDA and China FDA approvals.

Kintor will use Predicine’s expertise in genomics and molecular information to advance the development of its oncology pipeline.

Predicine’s expertise includes its GeneRADAR  combination circulating tumor RNA (ctRNA) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) liquid biopsy technology. According to the company, GeneRADAR is the first such test designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of molecular changes in cancer.

Predicine technologies also include a biomarker database designed to identify the molecular alterations in a patient's cancer, then match the patient with relevant targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and clinical trials.

The value of the collaboration, announced earlier this week, was not disclosed. The partnership is the latest of multiple collaborations launched by the companies over the past two years. The previous collaborations were designed to support U.S. and Chinese clinical trials for Kintor’s drug candidate Proxalutamide in prostate cancer and breast cancer.

Those two cancers and liver cancer are the focus of Kintor’s pipeline, which is led by Proxalutamide, a second-generation (potentially third generation) androgen receptor antagonist. Proxalutamide is in Phase III study in China and Phase II study in the U.S. in castrate-resistant prostate cancer. The drug is also in Phase II in China and Phase I in the U.S. in triple-negative breast cancer.

Proxalutamide is the first drug being developed by Kintor through participation in the Marketing Authorization Holder program for China’s Jiangsu province. The program allows drug developers to use third-party manufacturers rather than require that they have in-house GMP manufacturing capabilities.

In addition to androgen receptor inhibitors, Kintor’s R&D pipeline includes phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/ mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase targeted inhibitors, cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease, Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) kinase targeting for the treatment of arthritis and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) / epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) double-targeting kinase inhibitors for the treatment of various solid tumors, such as liver cancer, ovarian cancer and lung cancer.