TaiRx, Inc. announced that its new oral anti-cancer drug, CVM-1118 (Foslinanib), has been discovered to be the world's first-in-class TRAP1-targeted medicine. The research results were published in the Pathology & Oncology Research in June this year.

The new research results will increase the clinical success rate and further demonstrate why the drug is clinically effective. The Phase II clinical trial of CVM-1118 for advanced neuroendocrine tumours is expected to be completed by the end of September.

Mr. Andrew Lin, chairman of TaiRx, said that the latest research results published in the internationally renowned journal Pathology & Oncology Research in June this year confirmed that CVM-1118 is the first cancer drug in the world to target TRAP1, a granulocyte protein that is highly expressed in a variety of cancer cells and is closely related to the occurrence and progression of tumours. TRAP1 is a granulocyte protein with high expression in many cancer cells and is closely associated with tumourigenesis and progression.

CVM-1118 has been found to accelerate the breakdown of TRAP1 by binding to TRAP1 protein, which in turn regulates its downstream messaging, including supressing cancer cell growth, promoting apoptosis, and inhibiting the activation and expression of oncogenes by reducing succinate and HIF-1α proteins, thereby inhibiting the formation of cancer cell-like ducts. This can effectively kill cancer cells and inhibit the metastasis of malignant tumours.

The team also used a genome-wide CRISPR knockout screening to identify CVM-1118 therapeutically relevant tumour markers. The trial data showed that deletion of two genes, STK11 or NF2, increased the virulence of CVM-1118 against tumours. In other words, mutations in STK11 and NF2 (Loss-of-function) could be potential biomarkers for CVM-1118 and could be used in future clinical trials to screen patients for CVM-1118 to improve the therapeutic efficacy of CVM-1118 in cancer patients.