LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Asana BioSciences, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on development of novel treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancers, today announced that it will present efficacy and biomarker data from the clinical proof of concept study with ASN002, an oral, once-daily dual JAK/SYK inhibitor, in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis at the International Eczema Council (IEC) meeting to be held in Orlando on May 16, 2018; and at the International Investigative Dermatology (IID) meeting in Orlando, May 16-19, 2018. The details of the presentations are as follows:
Abstract #559: ASN002 a dual oral inhibitor of JAK/SYK signaling improves clinical outcomes and associated cutaneous inflammation in moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis patients.
Authors/Investigators: E. Guttman-Yassky, AB. Pavel, T. Song, H. Kim, D. Zammit, S. Toker and N. Rao. New York, NY; Flushing, NY and Princeton, NJ.
Sessions:
- Abstract presentations; International Eczema Council (IEC): Phenotype-Genotype Correlations and Personalized Medicine in Atopic Dermatitis; Wednesday, May 16, 2018; 2:15 pm – 3:00 pm; Butler Room
- Come See My Poster Session III; Saturday, May 19, 2018; 11:15 am – 11:30 am; Gatlin D-E
- Selected ePoster Discussions III; Clinical Research: Patient Outcomes Research; Saturday, May 19, 2018; 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm Gatlin Foyer Kiosk #1
Dr. Emma Guttman-Yassky, the Sol and Clara Kest Professor of Dermatology, Vice Chair, Department of Dermatology, and Director of the Eczema Center and Laboratory for Inflammatory Skin Diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in NY stated, “We currently do not have safe oral treatments for treating our moderate-to-severe AD patients, and available immune suppressants harbor many side effects. It is exciting to have a novel oral therapeutic option such as ASN002 that can achieve rapid disease control in patients with moderate-to-severe AD, and also appears to be well tolerated. This is the first report demonstrating parallel improvements in clinical, histological and molecular level measures in the skin following treatment with a drug targeting JAK-STAT pathway. Further studies are needed to show long-term disease control and safety over time, but this is very exciting news so far.”
Dysregulation of Th2 and Th22 cytokine pathways is implicated in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis. The inhibition of JAK and SYK pathways diminishes cytokine production and signaling including those mediated by Th2 and Th22 cytokines. ASN002 showed robust clinical efficacy with nearly all patients obtaining a 50% improvement in disease severity (EASI50) at 40mg and 80mg once daily and substantial decreases in patient-reported itch measured by Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) after 4 weeks of treatment. Clinical responses were associated with highly significant and progressive reductions from baseline in CD3+ T-cell and CD11c+ dendritic cells and in AD-associated biomarkers. Significant, high correlations were observed between improvements in key Th2 and Th22 biomarkers and improvements in EASI score. These findings will be presented in detail during the IID conference.
About Asana BioSciences, LLC
Asana BioSciences is a research and development company based near Princeton, NJ, specializing in the discovery and development of new chemical and biological entities. Multiple assets from Asana’s portfolio are currently in clinical development in a variety of therapeutic areas, including oncology, dermatology and autoimmune diseases.
Asana’s lead molecule ASN002 is also currently being evaluated in a Phase I/II clinical study in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and myelofibrosis (MF), with early evidence of clinical activity and good tolerability (NCT02440685).
ASN003, a selective inhibitor of BRAF and PI3 Kinases. The RAS-RAF-MEK and PI3K pathways are frequently mutated in many cancers. Dual targeting of RAF and PI3K pathways has the potential to overcome and/or delay acquired resistance to selective RAF inhibitors and demonstrate improved efficacy against cancers driven by both pathways. Enrollment is ongoing in a Phase I study in patients with BRAFV600 mutated metastatic melanoma, metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), or advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and advanced solid tumors with documented PIK3CA mutation (NCT02961283).
ASN007 is a potent inhibitor of the extracellular-signal-regulated kinases, ERK1 and ERK2 (ERK1/2), key players in the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK (MAPK) signaling pathway. ASN007 is being evaluated in a Phase I study in patients with advanced solid tumors, including BRAF and KRAS mutant cancers (NCT03415126).
ASN004 is an Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) that targets the 5T4 oncofetal antigen that is expressed in a wide range of malignant tumors, while very limited expression is found in normal tissues. ASN004 demonstrates robust antitumor activity in multiple human tumor xenograft models. A First-in-Human Phase I trial is being planned in 2019.
ASN008 is a topical novel Na+-channel blocker being developed for the treatment of chronic itch conditions and pain with rapid onset and long duration of action after a single application. The IND filing is planned in 2H 2018.
