Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd, a holding subsidiary of Kelun Pharmaceutical, which focuses on the R&D, manufacturing, commercialization and global collaboration of innovative biological drugs and small molecule drugs, announced that the company has received a clinical trial notice approving the investigational new drug application for a radionuclide-drug conjugate (RDC) drug SKB107 (formerly TBM-001) from the Center for Drug Evaluation of the National Medical Products Administration. SKB107 is the first company RDC drug clinical project.
SKB107 is jointly developed by the company and professor Chen Yue’s team of the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University (Affiliated Hospital of SMU). It utilizes a small molecule as the targeting ligand, combined with a suitable conjugation technology, chelator, and therapeutic radionuclide, and is intended to be used for treatment of bone metastases in solid tumors. Compared with traditional external radiation therapy, the RDC drug SKB107 can benefit patients with systemic multiple bone metastases and is highly targeted, which can reduce the damage to normal tissues, and is expected to show good safety; and compared with traditional bone-modifying drugs, it can effectively kill tumour cells with bone metastases, and is expected to have potential for the treatment of bone metastases efficacy. The company entered into an exclusive license agreement with the Affiliated Hospital of SMU for a RDC drug SKB107 on September 2023.
Bone metastasis of malignant tumours: Bone is the most common site of metastasis in advanced malignant tumours, and about 70%~80% of patients with advanced malignant tumors will eventually develop bone metastasis. Among common tumours, prostate cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, lung cancer and kidney cancer have a higher incidence of bone metastasis, accounting for more than 80% of all bone metastatic tumours. Bone metastasis can lead to serious complications such as severe bone pain and bone-related events, such as pathologic fracture and spinal cord compression, which can seriously reduce patients’ quality of life and increase the risk of death. Currently, treatments for bone metastases of malignant tumours mainly include comprehensive treatments such as analgesic therapy, radiation therapy, bone-modifying drug therapy, and surgery. However, these treatments are still limited in improving patients’ quality of life, delaying or avoiding the occurrence of SREs, and prolonging patients’ survival, and the development of new mechanisms of action and safer and more effective drugs is imminent.
