Roche has taken the scissors to its clinical development pipeline, snipping off phase 2 studies of potential treatments for hepatitis B virus and geographic atrophy in the quarterly cull of its investigational assets.
The hepatitis B candidate removed (PDF) from phase 2 is RG7907, a core protein allosteric modulator that is also known as RO7049389. Roche took the drug candidate into midphase development in 2020 on the strength of evidence the small molecule inhibits replication of the virus by disrupting the assembly of its nucleocapsids and inducing the depletion of functional core proteins.
After reviewing phase 1 data in 2019, Roche felt the candidate could be part of a combination of drug molecules capable of curing hepatitis B infection. Three years later, Roche has dropped the prospect. The action comes months after the completion of a phase 1 trial and during a phase 2 study set up to test the candidate in two combinations.
Roche remains a player in the pursuit of a hepatitis B cure even after the defenestration of RG7907. The multi-regimen phase 2 features multiple combinations of other candidates, such as the siRNA prospect RG6346, which uses technology from Novo Nordisk’s Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, and the TLR7 agonist RG7854.
The Swiss drugmaker also removed RG6147 from its phase 2 pipeline. The candidate, which is also known as galegenimab, is an anti-HTRA1 antibody-binding fragment that Roche’s Genentech unit began testing in a midphase geographic atrophy study in 2019. The study, the status of which changed to “active, not recruiting” last month, is scheduled to finish late next year.
Genentech’s interest in HTRA1 was underpinned by evidence that HTRA1 inhibition may preserve retinal integrity and slow disease progression. Abnormal activity of the secreted serine protease HTRA1 may induce the breakdown and elimination of extracellular matrix proteins and thereby drive eye disease.
Roche also updated the targeted timing of its planned filing for approval of tiragolumab in the treatment of first-line esophageal cancer. The filing of the anti-TIGIT candidate, which failed in lung cancer earlier this year, is now planned for 2023, not 2022.
Fierce Biotech has contacted Roche for more information about the pipeline updates.