Black Diamond Therapeutics (Nasdaq: BDTX) has announced that it has dosed the first patient in the Phase 1 study focused on BDTX-1535.
BDTX-1535 is a MasterKey inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to potentially treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and glioblastoma (GBM).
Cambridge, Massachusetts–based Black Diamond believes BDTX-1535 holds significant potential for EGFR-mutant NSCLC and GBM.
“This is the second MasterKey inhibitor derived from our MAP drug discovery engine; we are incredibly excited about BDTX-1535’s advancement into the clinic, and we look forward to providing a clinical update in the second half of 2023,” said David M. Epstein, CEO of Black Diamond Therapeutics.
“Despite recent successes in targeting EGFR-mutated NSCLC, there is still a need for better therapeutics for patients with disease progression following first-line EGFR inhibitors,” said Dr. Melissa Johnson, director of lung cancer research for Sarah Cannon Research Institute at Tennessee Oncology, in a press release “We hope to assess the ability of BDTX-1535 to inhibit tumors with primary TKI-resistant EGFR mutations or those with on-target acquired resistance mutations.”
NSCLC comprises some 80% to 85% of lung cancers.
Some 10–20% of lung cancer patients in North America and Europe have EGFR mutations.
As many as 50% of lung cancer patients in Asia have EGFR mutations.
Many GBM also “co-express EGFR alterations, including mutations, splice variants and amplification,” said Dr. Patrick Y. Wen, director, center for neuro-oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in a statement.