Jiangsu Simcere Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, a Chinese pharmaceutical company listed in Hong Kong (HKG: 2096), has announced that it has obtained clinical trial approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for its pipeline candidate SIM0508. This molecule is a DNA polymerase theta (Pol theta) small molecule inhibitor, which is set to be initially evaluated for the treatment of advanced solid tumors.
DNA polymerase theta is a DNA repair enzyme that is prevalent in both animals and plants. It mediates the microhomologous end-joining (MMEJ) pathway, a significant mechanism for the repair of DNA double-strand breaks. In the event of a deficiency in the homologous recombination repair function (HRD) in tumor cells, the MMEJ pathway is heightened and serves as an alternative DNA damage repair (DDR) mechanism. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that SIM0508 can effectively suppress Pol θ activity, obstruct the MMEJ repair pathway, and selectively curb the proliferation of HRD tumor cells. Furthermore, SIM0508 has the potential to be used in combination with poly (adenosine diphosphate ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors or chemotherapy drugs, yielding substantial synergistic effects.- Flcube.com
