InnoCare Announces Approval of Clinical Trial of Novel Targeted Protein Degrader ICP-490 in China

BEIJING–(BUSINESS WIRE)–InnoCare Pharma (HKEX: 09969), a leading biopharmaceutical company focusing on the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, announced today that the company has received Investigational New Drug (IND) approval of clinical trial from the NMPA (National Medical Products Administration) for its novel targeted protein degrader ICP-490 for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).

ICP-490 is developed from InnoCare’s molecular glue platform. By specifically binding to CRL4-CRBN-E3 ligase complex, ICP-490 induces ubiquitination and degradation of transcription factors including Ikaros and Aiolos, thereby downregulating the expression of IRF4, an oncogenic transcription factor that drives multiple myeloma to exert direct anti-myeloma effects. It also has immunomodulatory effects by enhancing the function of effector T cells, resulting from Ikaros and Aiolos degradation and the degradation-mediated releasing of interleukin IL-2.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant tumor with clonal abnormal proliferation of plasma cells, which is characterized by abnormal proliferation of bone marrow plasma cells and most of them with overproduction of monoclonal immunoglobulin (M protein). MM is often accompanied by multiple osteolytic lesions, hypercalcemia, anemia, kidney injury, etc. MM accounts for about one percent of tumor diseases and 10 percent of blood tumors¹.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) is the most common hematological malignancy in the world, accounting for nearly three percent of cancer diagnosis and death². NHL ranks among the top 10 common malignant tumors in China. Its common types include diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL).

Dr. Jasmine Cui, the co-founder, Chairwoman and CEO of InnoCare said, “InnoCare has built a strong pipeline in the field of blood tumor. With the approval of ICP-490 for clinical trials, InnoCare will further strengthen its blood tumor pipeline and aim to provide better treatment options for those patients in China and around the world.”

About InnoCare

InnoCare is a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing first-in-class and/or best-in-class drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. We strategically focus on liquid cancer, solid tumors, and autoimmune diseases with high unmet medical needs in China and worldwide. InnoCare has branches in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and the United States.

¹ Yongchao Liang et al., 2021

² Thakurta et al., 2021

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