Unlike previously developed pan-HDAC inhibitors, which are directly cytotoxic to cancer (and immune) cells, IND-enabling toxicology studies in rat and dog showed that TNG260 was well-tolerated at exposures predicted to be efficacious in humans, with bone marrow suppression only detectable at doses where TNG260 is no longer selective for CoREST inhibition. TNG260 clinical development will be among the first to combine the power of genetic patient selection and immunotherapy, evaluating patients with STK11 mutant cancers in a trial combining TNG260 and a checkpoint inhibitor.
It reverses the immune evasion phenotype caused by loss of STK11 and induces tumor regressions in an STK11-mutant model in combination with α-PD1. The TNG260 clinical development plan will be among the first to combine the power of genetic patient selection and immunotherapy, evaluating patients with STK11 mutant cancers in a trial combining TNG260 and a checkpoint inhibitor.