Nurix Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has announced its strategic priorities for 2024, focusing on the advancement of its targeted protein modulation pipeline aimed at treating cancer and inflammatory diseases. The company plans to accelerate enrollment in its NX-5948 clinical trial for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies, including leukemia and lymphoma, by adding dozens of new clinical trial sites across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
In 2023, Nurix made significant progress in its clinical stage pipeline, particularly with its Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) degrader programs, NX-5948 and NX-2127. Positive clinical data from these programs were presented at the 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. NX-5948, an orally bioavailable degrader of BTK, demonstrated dose-dependent pharmacokinetics, resulting in rapid, robust, and sustained BTK degradation in all patients treated. The drug was well-tolerated across all doses tested and showed clinical benefit in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
NX-2127, a novel orally bioavailable bifunctional molecule that degrades BTK and cereblon neosubstrates Ikaros and Aiolos, also showed promising results in heavily pre-treated patients, including those with BTK inhibitor resistance mutations. Durable complete responses were reported in patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and an improved overall response rate was observed in CLL patients.
Nurix also expanded its Phase 1a dose escalation trial of NX-1607, an orally bioavailable inhibitor of Casitas B-lineage lymphoma proto-oncogene (CBL-B), to include a combination therapy arm with Paclitaxel. This trial is ongoing in adults with a range of oncology indications at multiple clinical sites in the United Kingdom and United States.
Strategic collaborations have been a key part of Nurix's strategy, with significant progress made in partnerships with Gilead, Sanofi, and Pfizer. These collaborations have generated meaningful non-dilutive funding, positioning Nurix well financially to progress and expand its pipeline through important milestones in 2024 and beyond. Notably, Gilead exercised its option to exclusively license Nurix’s investigational targeted IRAK4 protein degrader molecule for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.
Looking ahead to 2024, Nurix plans to present additional clinical data for NX-5948, resolve the partial clinical hold on the NX-2127 trial, and present data from the Phase 1a stage of the NX-1607 trial. The company also aims to nominate a new targeted protein degrader development candidate and achieve multiple research collaboration milestones with its partners. Nurix's strategic priorities for 2024 reflect its commitment to advancing innovative treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases through targeted protein modulation.
