SillaJen readying for phase 1 trial of cancer drug licensed from Switzerland

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s SillaJen Inc. said on Tuesday it will start patient recruitment for a phase 1 clinical trial of BAL0891, an investigative cancer drug, in the U.S. this month.

BAL0891 licensed from Basilea Pharmaceutica, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, is a potential first-in-class mitotic checkpoint inhibitor that drives aberrant tumor cell division, leading to tumor cell death. SillaJen has an exclusive right to develop it commercially.

In pre-clinical tests, BAL0891 effectively inhibited tumor cell growth and showed superiority when administered intravenously than orally. More benefits were also observed when used together with paclitaxel, SillaJen said at a press conference.

The planned phase 1 study will be conducted at three U.S. locations, including Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center, on patients with aggressive carcinomas such as triple-negative breast cancer. The company plans to expand indications to include various cancer types such as blood cancer if clinical trial results are positive.

SillaJen said it is also preparing to conduct clinical trials in Korea and is in talks with some of the five big hospitals in the country.

Regarding the development of SJ-600 series, the company’s oncolytic virus platform technology, SillaJen said animal testing has been completed, and related data could be presented to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) or the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) next year.