According to a press release from Ikena Oncology, the FDA has recently accepted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for Ikena’s investigational drug candidate, IK-930. This TEAD inhibitor is intended to treat cancers with mutations related to the Hippo signaling pathway. The next step is to evaluate it in a Phase 1 trial.

About IK-930

IK-930 is a TEAD inhibitor, meaning that it finds and selectively binds TEAD, alongside stopping TEAD-dependent transcription in important genes that play a role in therapeutic resistance, cancer progression, and metastases. Preclinical data points to this drug as potent and effective. It also leads researchers to believe it can be utilized as a monotherapy and in combination with other targeted agents.

It is intended to treat cancers caused by genetic alterations in the Hippo signaling pathway, which currently face an unmet medical need. In fact, the Phase 1 clinical trial will focus on patients with soft tissue sarcomas with YAP/TAZ genetic fusions, an example of which is epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE). Patients with NF2-deficient malignant mesothelioma will also participate.

Additionally, preclinical data show that IK-93o would work as a combination therapy. Because of this, Ikena plans to investigate it with other targeted therapies for cancers such as KRAS-mutant solid tumors and EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer.

Hopefully, this clinical trial and future research yield positive data, as IK-930 would fill an unmet need for numerous patient populations.