Genprex, GNPX, is a clinical stage gene therapy company pioneering a new approach to treating cancer. The company is developing gene technologies based on a novel proprietary technology platform, their first product candidate is called Oncoprex™ immunogene therapy, or Oncoprex, their platform technologies are designed to administer cancer fighting genes by encapsulating them into nanoscale hollow spheres called nanovesicles. The nanovesicles are then administered intravenously and are taken up by tumor cells where they express proteins that are missing or found in low quantities.

 

Oncoprex™, targets non-small cell lung cancer. This initial cancer target represents about 85 percent of all lung cancers and causes more deaths each year than any other type of cancer. Lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer, and the five-year survival rate for late stage lung cancer has not improved substantially in a quarter century. Oncroprex may be used alone or in combination with other cancer therapies, to combat additional types of cancer.

 

Fast Track

 

On January 14, 2020, the Company received U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Fast Track Designation for its Oncoprex immunogene therapy in combination with the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) osimertinib (AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso®, which had worldwide sales in 2018 of $1.86 billion and $2.31 billion in the first nine months of 2019, and it is currently AstraZeneca’s highest grossing product) for the treatment of NSCLC patients with EFGR mutations that progressed after treatment with osimertinib alone. Oncoprex consists of the TUSC2 (Tumor Suppressor Candidate 2) gene, the active agent in Oncoprex, complexed with a lipid nanovesicle.

The Company’s current Phase I/II clinical trial utilizes the combination of the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib (marketed by Genentech in the U.S. and elsewhere by Roche as Tarceva®) and Oncoprex against NSCLC. The current Phase I/II trial is active but is not currently enrolling patients, though the Company had planned to resume enrollment in mid-2020. Tumor shrinkage in patients resistant to erlotinib enrolled in this trial showed that Oncoprex can overcome resistance to TKIs and provided support for the Fast Track Designation. Osimertinib is now considered a new standard of care for NSCLC patients with an EGFR mutation. Given this and receipt of FDA’s Fast Track Designation for use of Oncoprex combined with osimertinib in patients whose tumors progress on osimertinib, the Company has decided to prioritize this drug combination and patient population. Therefore, the Company plans to initiate a Phase I/II clinical trial of Oncoprex combined with osimertinib in mid-2020 at multiple cancer centers across the United States, and it does not intend to reopen enrollment in the current Phase I/II trial using the combination of Oncoprex and erlotinib at this time.

Genprex plans to file an amendment to its Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA for the Oncoprex and osimertinib combination therapy trial within the first quarter of 2020. Upon FDA acceptance of the amendment, the Company expects to be in a position to enroll patients shortly thereafter. The Company believes that enrollment in the new clinical trial may be rapid, as the tumors of almost all patients who are treated with osimertinib progress after treatment, and these patients may be candidates for its clinical trial combining Oncoprex with osimertinib, for which the Company received Fast Track Designation.

The Company believes prioritizing the combination therapy of Oncoprex with osimertinib represents the most efficient way to advance its lead drug candidate through the clinical process for FDA approval, to have the best commercial success in the $17.9 billion global lung cancer market, the Company will also proceed with its plan to file an IND for the additional combination therapy of Oncoprex combined with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (marketed as Keytruda® by Merck in the U.S.) for NSCLC.

Genprex and University of Pittsburgh Sign Exclusive License Agreement for Gene Therapy Candidate for Diabetes 

Genprex recently signed an exclusive license agreement with the University of Pittsburgh for a diabetes gene therapy that may have the potential to cure Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.The diabetes gene therapy, which was developed by lead researcher and Harvard graduate, Dr. George Gittes, at the Rangos Research Center at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, works by reprogramming beta cells in the pancreas to restore their function, thereby replenishing levels of insulin. The novel infusion process uses an endoscope and an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector to deliver Pdx1 and MafA genes to the pancreas. The proteins these genes express transform alpha cells in the pancreas into functional beta-like cells, which can produce insulin but are distinct enough from beta cells to evade the body’s immune system.

 

The diabetes gene therapy has been tested in vivo in mice and nonhuman primates. In studies of diabetic mice, the gene therapy approach restored normal blood glucose levels for an extended period of time, typically around four months. According to Dr. Gittes, the duration of restored blood glucose levels in mice could translate to decades in humans. Following preclinical studies, Dr. Gittes and his team plan to begin a Phase I clinical trial in diabetic patients, which could be the first-ever gene therapy tested in humans for diabetes. 

 

 

 

Genprex’s licensed diabetes gene therapy technology works to reprogram alpha cells in the pancreas into beta-like cells, restoring their function, thereby replenishing levels of insulin.

Image source: Osipovich, Anna & Magnuson, Mark. (2018). Alpha to Beta Cell Reprogramming: Stepping toward a New Treatment for Diabetes. Cell Stem Cell. 22. 12-13. 10.1016/j.stem.2017.12.012. 

 

According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 30 million Americans have diabetes, and approximately 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year. Diabetes patients have the continuous burden of checking and monitoring their blood glucose levels and injecting insulin on a daily basis. Without effective management of diabetes, patients are at risk of stroke, hyperglycemia, cardiovascular disease, diabetic ketoacidosis and extremity amputation. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.

 

Source: Genprex, OxBridge Research, Daily Stock Deals

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