Syntara’s SNT-5505 moves ahead in clinical trials

Syntara has announced that a Phase 2 trial evaluating the combination treatment of its SNT-5505 with chemotherapy will go ahead for patients with a form of blood cancer.

In a statement this week, the ASX-listed drug development company – formerly known as Pharmaxis – said that its SNT-5505 (previously known as PXS-5505) would be trialled in patients with low and intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS. 

MDS is a type of blood cancer, with an “overall five-year survival rate for transfusion-dependent MDS is 37 per cent.” 

The trial at the University of Newcastle The trial will be led by Associate Professor Anoop Enjeti, and conducted under the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group (ALLG) clinical trial framework. 

“The grant from the MRFF [Medical Research Future Fund] and the support of University of Newcastle and the ALLG enables us to expand the haematology indications for SNT-5505 beyond the current international myelofibrosis study and into another area of high unmet need and commercial value,” said Syntara CEO Gary Phillips. 

The statement describes the trial as featuring a dose escalation phase where up to nine transfusion-dependant MDS patients will be treated with a fixed dose of SNT-5505 and two different doses of a hypomethylating agent, “followed by a dose expansion phase where 30 patients will be treated for six months on the dose combination selected in the first phase based on tolerability and efficacy.”

Results from the dose escalation phase, including safety and preliminary efficacy endpoints, are expected by mid-2025. 

It is the company’s fourth concurrent Phase 2 study.

SNT-5505 is also being evaluated in a Phase 2 study targeting myelofibrosis, a different kind of blood cancer, and characterised by scarring of the bone marrow.

Picture: credit Syntara