Positive results for MAIA’s SCLC treatment published in Nature Communications

The aggressive type of cancer accounts for 13% of all lung cancer cases worldwide

MAIA Biotechnology has announced that positive results from its preclinical studies for THIO, a treatment for small cell lung cancer (SCLC), have been published in Nature Communications.

The findings reported from the research were conducted in collaboration with the University of Texas Southwestern.

In the UK, more than 43,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year. In total, SCLC accounts for 13% of all cases of lung cancer worldwide.

Despite being less common than non-SCLC (NSCLC), it is more aggressive and rapidly spreads throughout the body.

Developed as a second or late line of treatment, THIO is an investigational telomere-targeting agent that is currently in clinical development to evaluate its activity in NSCLC. It works to induce telomerase-dependent telomeric DNA modification, DNA damage responses and selective cancer cell death.

Telomeres, as well as the enzyme telomerase, play a role in the survival of cancer cells and their resistance to therapies. Specifically, lung cancer small cells rely on telomerase activity for the proliferation of SCLC.

The treatment was reported to have shown a profound and persistent tumour regression in advanced, in vivo cancer models, followed by PD-(L)1 inhibitors by inducing cancer-type-specific immune memory in human and mouse SCLC models.

The telomere-targeting agent effectively decreased cancer-initiating cells and diminished tumour-initiation potential in vitro and in vivo.

In addition, THIO was highly effective in combination with ionising radiation treatment regiments.

“The positive outcomes reported in our publication show THIO’s potential as a new therapeutic approach,” said Vlad Vitoc, chairman and chief executive officer, MAIA.

THIO has already received Orphan Drug Designation for SCLC following the US Food and Drug Administration’s recognition of its potential to improve outcomes for this disease.

Vitoc added: “With the positive preclinical and clinical data we have obtained to date for THIO, we have entered the Phase 2 planning stage for a clinical trial of THIO in SCLC along with two other cancers.”