Ascentage Pharma, a global biopharmaceutical company, has announced that its licensee, UNITY Biotechnology, has reported positive data from a Phase I clinical study of UBX1325, a Bcl-xL inhibiting compound, in patients with advanced vascular eye diseases. This progress qualifies Ascentage Pharma for a milestone payment of US$2 million in UNITY common stock.
UBX1325, the first senolytic therapeutic clinically evaluated in an ophthalmological setting, aims to inhibit proteins that senescent cells rely on for survival. It offers a potential alternative or adjunctive treatment to anti-VEGF therapies. The Phase I study demonstrated that UBX1325 was well-tolerated, with no treatment-related adverse events or dose-limiting toxicities, and showed rapid improvement in key outcome measures for patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) or wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).
Following the Phase I success, the first patient has been dosed in a Phase IIa clinical study to further assess UBX1325's safety and efficacy in a broader DME patient population. Ascentage Pharma and UNITY's collaboration, initiated in 2016, focuses on developing treatments for age-related diseases from Ascentage Pharma's Bcl-2 compound series. Ascentage Pharma retains rights to the compound in the Greater China region and plans to potentially establish a joint venture with UNITY for its development and commercialization in China.
Dr. Dajun Yang, Chairman & CEO of Ascentage Pharma, highlighted the company's capabilities in apoptosis-targeted therapies and expressed hope for further encouraging results from the clinical development program, aiming to advance senolytic therapeutics for patients worldwide.
