Benzinga | Oct 7, 2021 04:31PM EDT

Baylor College Of Medicine Presents eFFECTOR Therapeutics-Backed Preclinical Data Supporting Development Of Zotatifin In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer At 2021 AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference On Molecular Targets And Cancer Therapeutics

eFFECTOR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:EFTR), a leader in the development of selective translation regulator inhibitors (STRIs) for the treatment of cancer, in collaboration with investigators at Baylor College of Medicine, today announced the presentation of new positive data for zotatifin in animal models of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) at the 2021 AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics. Zotatifin is a potent and sequence-selective inhibitor of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A (eIF4A) mediated translation.

The study authors found that blocking eIF4A in p53-null models of mouse mammary tumorigenesis with zotatifin results in tumor control via both tumor-intrinsic mechanisms as well as activation of host immune response. This activity is further potentiated with the addition of chemotherapy. The presentation entitled, "The RNA helicase EIF4A is a therapeutic vulnerability in triple-negative breast cancer," was presented by Na Zhao, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate in the Jeffrey Rosen Lab, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, in an oral session.

"Successful cancer treatments usually require combinations with standard-of-care chemo- and immunotherapies," said Jeffrey Rosen, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine. "Resistance is also a major problem observed with single agents. We are excited to employ the TNBC models developed in our laboratory for these important preclinical studies that we hope will lead to the next generation of clinical trials."

In the study, zotatifin treatment slowed tumor growth in six out of eight syngeneic TNBC models without apparent toxicity. Zotatifin treatment was also shown to inhibit proliferative and stem cell signaling pathways including E2F targets, G2/M checkpoints, as well as NOTCH signaling, and induce proteins involved in Interferon-? and Interferon-? responses. Additionally, combination treatment of zotatifin with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus demonstrated statistically significant prolonged survival compared to use of these agents alone.

"We are pleased to present these highly encouraging data through our partnership with researchers at Baylor College of Medicine that support continued advancement of zotatifin in solid tumor indications, including triple negative breast cancer," said Steve Worland, Ph.D., president and CEO of eFFECTOR. "We believe zotatifin may have therapeutic benefit in this difficult-to-treat subset of breast cancer patients, particularly in combination with other FDA-approved agents."