Sonnet BioTherapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONN) has announced that it has commenced dosing for SON-1010 in its Phase I clinical study. The company hopes to use the therapy to treat people with severe solid tumours.
Sonic used its FHAB platform to develop SON-1010, a synthetic form of interleukin 12. The platform targets lymphatic and tumour tissue, thus allowing scientists to ensure dose sparing while optimising the efficacy and safety of interleukin 12 and other immune modulators.
According to the company’s CMO, Dr Richard Kelly, the company is happy that it dosed its first patient. Moreover, it is excited to be part of an effort to ensure the safety and efficacy of cytokine treatment.
Scientists have had difficulty applying cytokine to clinical trials
Dr Kelly adds that scientists have studied cytokines for a long time and discovered their potential in treating cancer. Despite having success on animal models during their experiment, they have had a challenging time translating these results to human patients. The reason is that the clinical trials have resulted in toxicity before researchers could find a therapeutic dose.
Dr Kennedy explains that the company’s solution is to link a domain that binds to albumin, thus targeting the tumour. This technique also increases the half-life of the cytokine in the bloodstream. The doctor believes that this method could help researchers elicit a robust immune response to the tumour locally.
SON-1010 might treat various indications
Interleukin 12 is produced to respond to pathogens and cancerous cells in the body. For this reason, the researchers believe that SON-1010 could treat patients with gynaecological cancers, sarcomas, cancers of the neck and head, melanomas, and lung cancer.
The CEO and Founder of Sonnet, Pankaj Mohan, states that this is a crucial milestone since this is the first therapy created using the platform that the company has used to dose a patient.
One study author, Santa Chawla, M.D., the study will investigate the pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, tolerability, and safety of SON-1010. He adds that while scientists have made significant steps in treating cancer, there is still an unmet need. For this reason, Dr Chawla is glad to participate in the study that uses immunotherapy to benefit patients with tumours.
