Theseus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: THRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company tanked in pre-market trading at the time of writing on Friday after the company announced that it was discontinuing patient enrollment in the ongoing phase 1 study of its lead cancer candidate, THE-630, and terminating its development. THE-630 was expected to be used in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).
In this trial, two patients were dosed with 27 mg (Cohort 7) of THE-630 and while these two patients cleared the dose–limiting toxicity (DLT) observation period, a third patient “enrolled in Cohort 7 experienced grade 3 hand-foot skin reaction (HFSR), which required an expansion of the cohort to 6 patients,” while “one of the patients enrolled in the Cohort 7 expansion group experienced grade 2 HFSR, which required a dose interruption of ≥7 days.”
The company will now focus its efforts on THE-349, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor for EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer and an investigational new drug (IND) application is planned for the fourth quarter of this year.
Tim Clackson, Ph.D., President and CEO of Theseus Pharmaceuticals commented, “We remain committed to helping GIST patients with plans to nominate a new, highly selective pan-variant KIT inhibitor candidate for GIST in the first half of 2024.”
Analysts are bullish about THRX stock with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on a unanimous three Buys.
