Synhale acquires telaglenastat for PH, now planning Phase 2 trial
Therapy tested for cancer may ease disease severity in several PH types
Synhale Therapeutics has acquired the rights to the experimental therapy telaglenastat (CB-839), which has previously been tested as a potential cancer therapy.
The company is planning to launch a Phase 2 clinical trial to test telaglenastat in people with pulmonary hypertension (PH).
“This acquisition represents a unique opportunity to rapidly deliver clinical data addressing a disease with high mortality and substantial market potential,” Chad Holland, president and CEO of Synhale, said in a company press release. “Leveraging telaglenastat’s prior human clinical experience, our capital-efficient model aims to accelerate transformative therapy to patients while maximizing shareholder value.”
Telaglenastat study will be open to PH groups 1-4
Pulmonary hypertension is a group of disorders that are marked by elevated pressure in the blood vessels that carry blood through the lungs; this extra pressure puts strain on the heart. There are five main types of PH. This study will be open to people with PH groups 1-4, which includes pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), PH due to heart disease, PH due to lung disease, and PH due to blood clots in the lungs.
The unmet patient need in PH is immense.
Telaglenastat is a compound that targets a protein called glutaminase, which is a driver of cardiac, blood vessel, and pulmonary damage. Data from animal studies have indicated that telaglenastat may ease PH severity. The experimental treatment has been tested as a potential cancer therapy in previous studies.
“By targeting glutaminase activity, we address a fundamental metabolic pathway across all PH groups, offering hope to patients with few options,” said Synhale founder Stephen Chan, MD, PhD.
“The unmet patient need in PH is immense,” Chan added, particularly among individuals in PH groups 2 and 3.
According to Synhale, a virtual biotech company, the potential market value from telaglenastat could be in the range of $12 billion to $24 billion. The company is now conducting fundraising to support clinical testing of telaglenastat in PH. Synhale did not provide details about the planned clinical trial’s design or when the study is expected to begin.
“We are embarking on our next round of fundraising to advance Telaglenastat through critical clinical milestones,” Holland said. “Our virtual operating model enables us to be capital-efficient while maintaining world-class expertise focused on delivering breakthrough therapies for PH patients.”
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