Kazia Therapeutics’ paxalisib shows effiacy in published melanoma study

Kazia Therapeutics announced a publication in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics highlighting paxalisib preclinical data. The paper has shown paxalisib to be active in vitro and in vivo against preclinical models of metastatic melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. Dr Parkman’s data highlights paxalisib as a dual inhibitor of both the PI3K and MTOR pathways. Activation of the PI3K / Akt / mTOR pathway, which is the target of paxalisib, is common in melanoma and has been identified as a key resistance mechanism to some established therapies. In vitro: Treatment with paxalisib was observed to lead to a significant decrease in melanoma cell growth in multiple cell lines and was also observed to inhibit downstream signaling through the PI3K/AKT cascade, leading to its negative effect on melanoma cell growth. Mice bearing tumors were dosed with paxalisib, which was observed to inhibit of tumor growth and significantly extended the overall survival of these mice compared to vehicle. At day 21, the mean tumor volume in the paxalisib treated mice was observed to be significantly lower than vehicle. Kazia anticipates further data from the ongoing collaboration with the Huntsman Cancer Institute in CY2024. Depending on the results, Kazia may evaluate future opportunities to launch a clinical trial of paxalisib in melanoma.