KCP506 enters clinical trials for neuropathic chronic pain
Kineta doses first patient in Phase 1 trial of KCP506, a non-opioid treatment for chronic pain
SEATTLE—Kineta Inc., through its subsidiary Kineta Chronic Pain LLC, has reported that the company has dosed its first participant in its Phase 1 clinical trial of KCP506. The study intends to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of KCP506 in up to 88 healthy participants, with data expected in the second half of 2021.
“KCP506 represents a promising potential approach for treating patients with chronic pain where there is such a tremendous unmet medical need. The successful dosing of the first participant with KCP506 is a major achievement for this program and the clinical development of our novel non-opioid,” commented Dr. Eric Tarcha, executive vice president of Research and Development at Kineta.
KCP506 is an investigational, first-in-class α9/α10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonist in development for treating chronic neuropathic pain. α9α10 nAChR antagonists have demonstrated robust analgesic, anti-neuroinflammatory, and neuroprotective effects in multiple preclinical chronic pain models.
Kineta believes that KCP506 has the potential to be a disease modifying therapy that could slow or halt chronic pain progression, as well as being an effective treatment for many types of chronic neuropathic pain — including radiculopathy, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, and diabetic neuropathy.
“The α9α10 nAChR drug target is not expressed in the central nervous system and may lead to a safer therapy with no centrally mediated toxicities,” says Kineta’s website. “Unlike other chronic pain therapies, Kineta’s α9α10 nAChR antagonists are non-addictive and non-tolerizing in preclinical studies.”
Back in October, Kineta announced an expansion of its collaboration with Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group. The companies initially began collaborating in April 2018. With this extension, Kineta will continue developing α9/α10 nAChR antagonists, and will advance KCP506 through to Phase 1 clinical trials. Kineta will also receive an undisclosed payment from Genentech.
“Our team is excited that Genentech has committed to extending the research collaboration with Kineta as they have been an extremely collaborative partner,” noted Shawn Iadonato, CEO of Kineta, in a press release about the expansion of the collaboration. “This is an important step in the development of KCP506 and a tremendous milestone achievement for the company.”
Under the terms of the original agreement, Genentech has an option to license assets developed during the research collaboration. If Genentech exercises its option, the company will be responsible for further development and commercialization. Kineta is also eligible to receive development and commercialization milestone payments up to $359 million based on achievement of predetermined milestones, as well as high single- to low double-digit royalties on sales of products resulting from the collaboration.
