Handok and CMG Pharmaceutical saw their investigational new drug (IND) application approved by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on May 8 for Phase-1 clinical trials of the pan-tropomyosin-related-kinase (TRK) inhibitor they are co-developing with.

The trials will proceed at four locations – Seoul National University Hospital, Yonsei Severance Hospital, CHA Bundang Medical Center, and the National Cancer Center – and are specifically intended to assess the safety and tolerability of the drug for Korean patients with malignant solid cancer.

Pan-TRK inhibitors embody an innovative approach to cancer therapy as they are designed to selectively inhibit TRK proteins. Realignment of the TRK genes is behind the mutations of cancer genes responsible for a variety of cancers, including of the thyroid, the bile duct, the lung (non-small cell), the colon-rectum, and the brain (glioblastoma multiforme). Since the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) announced its findings on a TRK inhibitor, it has been garnering much attention worldwide.