Menu
We are developing a deuterated MET kinase inhibitor as a potential ‘best in class’ targeted therapy for MET driven disease
DeuterOncology NV was founded in September 2020 by Dr Timothy Perera and is based in Liege in Belgium. The company generated pre-clinical validation of DO-2, a novel, highly selective, brain penetrant deuterated MET kinase and RAS pathway inhibitor.
The molecule was in-licensed (worldwide rights outside of greater China) from OCTIMET Oncology NV and originally licensed from Janssen Pharmaceutica in 2017.
DO-2 is a re-engineered, highly selective, brain penetrant MET Kinase inhibitor, designed to overcome the tolerability problems of the current marketed MET kinase inhibitors.
Preclinical studies have shown less toxicity and an extended efficacious plasma exposure profile at low doses with DO-2 compared with non-deuterated MET inhibitors.
Fully efficacious dose of DO-2 (in nude mice) is 1/10 of the MTD.
Manufacturing scalable - excellent Stability - CMC/GMP lot approved by Regulatory Authorities.
A few patients enrolled, four doses of DO-2 successively doubled without TRAE. Dose escalation still ongoing. Initial PK data corroborate key hypothesis.
A Hydrogen atom judiciously replaced with a stronger bond strength Deuterium atom significantly reduces the impact of the metabolic liability during treatment. Resulting in higher levels of active parent drug at low doses.
DO-2 is developped in NSCLC harbouring MET exon 14 skipping mutation and/or MET amplification, combination with EGFR inhibitors and other advanced solid cancers.
Fast development trajectory.
Team composed of senior leaders with broad experience in Pharmaceutical development and complementary expertise .
Lung cancer is the most common form of cancer in the world (12.3% of all cancers), with an estimated 2.2 million individuals diagnosed worldwide with lung cancer in 2020.
Mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) tyrosine kinase inhibitors are drugs used for treating lung cancer. The MET tyrosine kinase is a receptor present on the surface of various cells.
A deuterated drug is a small molecule in which one or more of the hydrogen atoms are replaced by deuterium.
As deuterium and hydrogen have nearly the same physical properties
Lung cancer is the most common form of cancer in the world (12.3% of all cancers), with an estimated 2.2 million individuals diagnosed worldwide with lung cancer in 2020.
DeuterOncology’s lead product DO-2 is an improved MET kinase inhibitor, which is being developed as a potential ‘best in class’ targeted therapy for lung cancer.
The metabolically labile hydrogen has been replaced with a stronger bond strength deuterium atom that significantly reduces the importance of this metabolic liability. In addition, the formation of an active metabolite has been shown, that maintains activity on the MET kinase as well as binding to an alternative kinase that is a constituent of the ras pathway. This new target kinase has been reported to play a role in the ras signaling pathway involved in resistance to MET inhibitors and represents a promising new target for overcoming or delaying the emergence of resistance.
DO-1 is a highly selective small molecule inhibitor of the MET kinase that was found to inhibit the organic cation transporter-2 (OCT-2).
DO-1 (formerly JNJ-38877618 or OMO-1) was initially tested in a healthy volunteer study where initial data on pharmacokinetics, food effect and safety were obtained by JNJ where it originated.
The formation of a MET inactive metabolite that remained in circulation was noted in this study, but associated adverse events were not observed.
The clinical-stage drug development company has been granted 478,000 EUR for establishing a partnership with a Liège-based biotech…
DeuterOncology, a clinical-stage drug development company, today announces the closing of its €5.65 million ($6.1M) Series A financing…
Newton Biocapital I (“Newton Biocapital”), a life sciences investment fund active in Europe and Japan focused on chronic diseases…
DeuterOncology NV was founded in September 2020 by Dr Timothy Perera and is based in Liege in Belgium
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy
©2023 by DeuterOncology
