SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Peel Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotech company developing evolutionary based medicines, will present data on its lead clinical asset, PEEL-224, at two conferences this week. PEEL-224 is a small molecule nanoparticle engineered to improve delivery to tumors and avoid chemoresistance. PEEL-224 originates from Camptotheca acuminata, a toxin found in the Happy Tree from China. Camptothecin is a TOP1 inhibitor that interferes with DNA repair and kills damaged cells. Camptothecin has been used for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese medicine and more recently in irinotecan-based chemotherapy for solid tumors in children and adults. PEEL-224's modified TOP1 inhibitor payload and unique delivery system may offer clinical advantages to patients with solid tumors.
On Nov. 2, Dr. Robert Maki, medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Interim Medical Director at Peel Therapeutics, will present "An early phase study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary antitumor activity of PEEL-224 in patients with advanced solid tumors" during the Trials in Progress Poster Session at the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) 2023 Annual Meeting in Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Maki will discuss PEEL-224-001, a first-in-human, dose escalation, repeat-dose, multi-center, open-label study in the United States.
On Nov. 4, Dr. Aleah Caulin, VP of Nonclinical at Peel Therapeutics, will present "100% Complete Response to PEEL-224 in Combination with PD-1 Blockade in a Syngeneic Mouse Model of Colon Cancer" during the poster session at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting in San Diego. Dr. Caulin will describe the results of combined PEEL-224 and PD-1 blockade in a syngeneic mouse model of colon cancer: Vehicle (0% Complete Response [CR]), PD-1 inhibitor only (30% CR), PEEL-224 only (80% CR), PEEL-224 + PD-1 inhibitor (100% CR). Based on these findings, PEEL-224 combined with immunotherapy may be a promising approach for difficult-to-treat tumors and translation to human clinical trials are being considered.
"As a pediatric oncologist, I understand how important it is to develop drugs like PEEL-224 with the potential for decreased toxicity and increased efficacy," said Dr. Joshua Schiffman, CEO and Co-founder, Peel Therapeutics. "Peel's clinical trial is approaching what the team believes will be the recommended phase 2 dose with plans for expansion cohorts in GI malignancies and sarcoma. We are pleased by our continued progress and the efforts of our team to test if PEEL-224 will benefit patients in need."
About Peel Therapeutics
Peel Therapeutics is an evolutionary-inspired, clinical-stage biotech company that engineers evolutionary biology for patients with cancer and inflammation. The Peel team identifies how nature accomplishes the inconceivable in preventing or defeating disease. Using multidisciplinary scientific and drug development expertise, these findings are rapidly translated into new medicines. Peel Therapeutics pushes the limits of biology to develop highly effective and safe medicines that transcend the incremental. "Peel" is the Hebrew word for elephant, the company originates from the observation that elephants are naturally cancer resistant.
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SOURCE PEEL Therapeutics