Nurix’s Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) degrader zelebrudomide may have survived a clinical hold in recent years, but that hasn’t stopped the California biotech from dropping the cancer drug.
The company had completed enrolment in a phase 1 study of the candidate, also known as NX-2127, earlier in the year in patients with aggressive forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma. As of July, Nurix had been “reviewing the data to determine next steps.”
It sounds like Nurix was unimpressed by what it saw. In the biotech’s third-quarter earnings announcement Monday, the company said it had “made the decision to discontinue further clinical development of zelebrudomide as part of a strategic prioritization of its wholly owned oncology portfolio.”
“Patients currently receiving NX-2127 may continue treatment for as long as clinically appropriate,” Nurix added.
Zelebrudomide is an orally bioavailable degrader of BTK and the cereblon neosubstrates IKZF1 and IKZF3. The drug’s phase 1 study was placed on hold by the FDA back in November 2023 after Nurix alerted the agency that it was planning to improve the manufacturing process.
But by March 2024 the trial was back on track. Early data from the study also seemed positive, with Nurix previously claiming the drug induced “robust and sustained degradation of BTK and biologically relevant degradation of IKZF1.”
While zelebrudomide has now been thrown on the scrap heap, another of Nurix’s BTK degraders, called bexobrutideg, has been going from strength to strength. In June, Roche paid $700 million upfront for the drug and the partners have since kicked off a phase 3 study pitting bexobrutideg against Eli Lilly’s Jaypirca in patients with chronic or small lymphocytic leukemia (CLL/SLL).
Multiple BTK inhibitors are already on the market, with Lilly’s non-covalent Jaypirca providing an option to blood cancer patients who progress on covalent drugs, including AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica, AstraZeneca’s Calquence and BeOne Medicines’ Brukinsa. Nurix has predicted that molecules that degrade BTK, rather than inhibit the kinase, will have advantages over existing products.
“The third quarter marked an important transition for Nurix as we moved bexobrutideg into phase 3 development in CLL and began executing a broader clinical strategy designed to realize its potential across lines of therapy in both oncology and autoimmune disease,” Nurix CEO Arthur Sands, M.D., Ph.D., said in a statement.
“At the same time, Sanofi advanced our oral STAT6 degrader into the clinic, and we advanced our CBL-B inhibitor NX-1607 into phase 1b expansion cohorts across four solid tumor indications,” Sands added.
Where Big Pharma is placing its bets is one of the hot topics being discussed at Fierce Biotech's high-impact event in London next month. Find out more information and register by clicking on the banner below:
