Hoth Therapeutics' Investigational Cancer Drug Shows Encouraging Preclinical Activity In Stomach Cancers

Hoth Therapeutics Inc HOTH announced that HT-KIT, a new molecular entity for advance systemic mastocytosis, achieved encouraging preclinical results.

The preclinical research was conducted over the past two years. 

The initial studies aimed to assess how long HT-KIT was functional in cancerous and non-cancerous mast cells and to determine whether the cells could develop resistance to HT-KIT. 

Key findings from initial studies in the mouse model show:

• HT-KIT effectively kills human mast cells that rely on signaling through the KIT receptor to survive.
• The effects of a single dose of HT-KIT lasted for about two weeks.
• HT-KIT efficacy at reducing KIT expression lasted for seven days

Additional studies were then performed to assess whether HT-KIT had potential applications further to the mastocytosis indication. 

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are also associated with activating KIT mutations. Key findings from these studies show:

• HT-KIT potently reduced KIT expression using GIST cells, and GIST cells rapidly died between 48 and 72 hours after exposure to HT-KIT.
• The effects of HT-KIT on a cell line that represents acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells and found that KIT expression was lower in the AML cells compared to either the mastocytosis or GIST cells, but was effectively and dose-dependently reduced with HT-KIT treatment over 72 hours.

Overall, these data support potential applications of HT-KIT outside of mastocytosis and mast cell leukemia.

HOTH stock is volatile. It was up 9% on the news at one point but has given up all the gains.

Price Action: HOTH shares are down 23.90% at $2.74 on the last check Wednesday.