NX-5948

P1, N=32, Recruiting, Nurix Therapeutics, Inc.

P1, N=226, Recruiting, Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. | N=130 --> 226

Current findings in this heavily pre-treated population of patients with CLL and NHL are encouraging and indicate that NX-5948 is safe and well tolerated and has clinical activity, supporting continuation of its development in CLL and NHL. NX-5948 also exhibits dose-proportional PK, resulting in rapid, robust and sustained BTK degradation. Additional data with higher dose levels and longer treatment duration will be presented at the meeting.

P1, N=130, Recruiting, Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. | Trial completion date: May 2024 --> Jan 2027 | Trial primary completion date: Jan 2024 --> Dec 2025

In addition to direct anti-neoplastic effects, BTK inhibitors ibrutinib and acalabrutinib were found to favorably modulate T-cell function in pre-clinical and clinical studies of CLL...In vitro polarization assays indicated that treatment with 1 μM NX-2127, but not NX-5948, resulted in a dramatic and significant upregulation of both IFN-γ and IL-2 under TH1-polarizing conditions, to a degree which significantly exceeded the effect of either ibrutinib or lenalidomide... CRBN-recruiting BTK degraders NX-2127 andNX-5948 induce degradation of BTK in primary CLL cells and do not interfere with T-cell activation and survival in vitro. More importantly, CRBN-immunomodulatory activity was required to upregulate CD38 (an IFN response gene), promote T-cell differentiation towards a TH1 phenotype, downregulate Treg differentiation, and facilitate immunological synapse formation, suggesting NX-2127 has the potential to reverse the immunosuppressive environment of CLL. Overall, our findings provide a strong rationale for continued investigation of these BTK degraders in CLL and lymphoid malignancies.

The C481S and C481R mutations eliminated the anti-proliferative effects of covalent inhibitors ibrutinib, acalabrutinib, and zanubrutinib, whereas the V416L, T474I, and L528W mutations had variable effects on the covalent inhibitors. By contrast, the non-covalent inhibitors pirtobrutinib, vecabrutinib, and fenebruitnib maintained activity against C481S but displayed partially reduced potency against the C481R mutation and dramatically reduced potency against the V416L, T474I, and L528W mutations...These degrader molecules may also have utility in earlier lines of therapy due to their ability to suppress scaffold-mediated BTK signaling. Phase 1a/b trials of NX-5948 and NX-2127 in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies are ongoing (NX-5948: NCT05131022; NX-2127: NCT04830137).

Approximately 110 patients (30 in phase 1a, 80 in phase 1b) may be enrolled and treated until confirmed progression or unacceptable toxicity. Enrollment in the phase 1a portion of this study is underway in the UK and the US, and is anticipated to begin in the Netherlands in 2023.

Observations regarding the importance of B-cell receptor signalling for the survival and proliferation of CLL cells led to the development of the first-in-class BTK inhibitor (BTKi), ibrutinib, for the treatment of CLL...As a result, more specific inhibitors of BTK were developed, such as acalabrutinib and zanubrutinib, which have demonstrated equivalent/enhanced efficacy and improved tolerability in large randomized clinical trials...As these drugs all bind covalently to BTK, an alternative approach was to develop noncovalent inhibitors of BTK, including pirtobrutinib and nemtabrutinib...A further step in the clinical development of BTK inhibition has been the introduction of BTK degraders, which remove BTK by ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation, in marked contrast to BTK inhibition. This article will review the evolution of BTK inhibition for CLL and offer future perspectives on the sequencing of an increasing number of different agents, and how this may be impacted on by mutations in BTK itself and other kinases.

Enrollment in the phase 1a portion of this study is underway in the U.K. and is anticipated to begin in the United States and the Netherlands in 2023.

Preliminary findings suggest that NX-5948 exhibits dose-proportional PK and supports daily dosing, resulting in rapid, robust and sustained BTK degradation. Additional indications, including CLL, and additional dosing levels are currently being explored.

Covalent BTK inhibitors (BTKis), including ibrutinib and acalabrutinib, irreversibly bind to cysteine 481 in the kinase domain of BTK, inhibit growth, and induce loss of viability of MCL cells...In the present studies, we determined that in vitro exposure of human MCL cells, including MCL cell lines: REC1, Mino and JeKo-1, as well as patient-derived (PD) MCL cells, to NX-2127 (10 to 250 nM) for 2 to 24 hours markedly depleted BTK levels via proteasomal degradation, since co-treatment with the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib restored BTK levels. NX-2127 but not NX-5948 treatment also degraded and depleted IKZF1 and IKZF3 levels...Co-treatment with NX-2127 (10 to 100 nM) and low nM levels of venetoclax or ABBV-744 was synergistically lethal against MCL cells (Delta synergy score above 1.0 by ZIP method). Collectively, these findings demonstrate that treatment with NX-2127 degrades and attenuates BTK and IKZF1/3 levels, as well as inhibits the downstream pro-growth and pro-survival signaling, resulting in loss of viability of MCL cells, including those resistant to covalent BTKi treatment. These findings also show promising anti-MCL activity of NX-2127-based combination with BCL2 or BET inhibitor which merits further in vivo validation.

NX-5948 degrades both wild type BTK and BTKi resistant mutants (C481) and inhibits ibrutinib-resistant tumor cell line growth at concentrations where ibrutinib and acalabrutinib are inactive. Conclusion Accrual is ongoing. Clinical trial information: NCT05131022.

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) plays a key role in cell survival in B cell malignancies, and covalent inhibitors of BTK, such as ibrutinib and acalabrutinib, have proven efficacious in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), marginal zone lymphoma (MZL), and Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia (WM)...While some CRBN-binding drugs , such as lenalidomide and pomalidomide , promote the degradation of neo-substrate proteins, such as the transcription factors Aiolos and Ikaros, NX-5948 has been engineered to avoid Aiolos and Ikaros degradation and therefore do es not possess IMiD activity...In an intracranial TMD8 xenograft model, treatment with NX-5948 resulted in degradation of BTK in intracranial TMD8 cells, decreased intracranial tumor burden and improved survival relative to treatment with vehicle. The potent BTK degradation activity of NX-5948 and the ability of this molecule to penetrate the CNS supports its development for the treatment of B-cell malignancies, including CNS lymphoma .