A Breakthrough in Targeted Cancer Therapy: Lixte Biotechnology Clinical Stage Compound LB-100

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Dr. John Kovach, the CEO and founder of Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc., expressed excitement for his company’s first-in-class protein phosphatase inhibitor, LB-100 as a new addition to cancer treatment at the Benzinga Global Small Cap Business Conference on May 13, 2021.

Lixte Biotechnology LIXT, a drug discovery company, created and patented a series of novel drugs that enhance the effectiveness of standard anti-cancer therapy in a number of animal models.

More than 40 preclinical studies report that Lixte’s LB-100 increases the anti-tumor activity of standard chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy without increasing toxicity.

Dr. Kovach noted that Lixte’s extensive international patent portfolio includes patents for LB-100 and its potential clinical applications based on lead compounds and some other drivers of those compounds. “We’re not aware of any competition at the moment, but we expect we’ll be getting some soon,” he said, “but we have quite a lead.”

The estimated total market value for current LB-100 clinical targets exceeds several billion dollars, Dr. Kovach said. “But if you can image LB-100 truly improves the efficacy of cytotoxic chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, the potential market is truly very large indeed,” he added.

In the next phase of Lixte’s presentation, Dr. Kovach explained how LB-100 could work. He said all basic cell activities require switches to rapidly turn on and off biochemical pathways. In cancer cells, a major driver in cancer is defects in those all-important switches.

LB-100 inhibits one of the “master off switches,” an enzyme called protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) that is present in all normal cells and cancer cells.

“PP2A controls many aspects of cell division in the cell cycle, DNA damage repair, which is necessary if your cells are injured by chemotherapy and radiation therapy,” Dr. Kovach said.  “Remarkably, recently, it’s been shown by several investigators that modifying PP2A with LB-100 alters the activity of T-cells, enhancing their ability to recognize and kill cancer cells shown in animal models.”

Dr. Kovach referred to LB-100 as a truly remarkable compound. “Maybe it’s not so surprising when we’re dealing with one of the major controllers of cell growth and division in the body.”

A major advance that encouraged Lixte to move forward, Dr. Kovach said, was a demonstration in a Phase 1 trial done at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and the U.S. Oncology Network. They found that LB-100 is readily tolerated in cancer patients at doses associated with anti-cancer activity.

“It was in that trial that patients who had advanced cancer of a variety of types — one patient with advanced pancreatic cancer had an objective response lasting almost a year — 10 out of 20 patients had sensational growth for at least 4 cycles,” Dr. Kovach said. “That doesn’t sound like much, but for patients who have failed all known treatments and progressing, it’s really quite encouraging.”

Dr. Kovach said Lixte is now the leader in evaluating the effectiveness of PP2A inhibition for cancer treatment, noting its performance against advanced small cell lung cancer, advanced soft tissue sarcomas, Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), gliomas (brain tumors) and Angelman Syndrome.

If the preclinical results hold true in the clinic, even in one form of cancer, LB-100 could be a major addition to current cancer therapy.

View the entire Lixte Biotechnology Holdings presentation here. For more company information visit Lixte.com.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.