The long journey to develop a drug against an “undruggable” target in cancer

Laura Soucek
Vall d´Hebron, Barcelona
MYC is a most wanted target in cancer therapy long considered “undruggable”. Against this preconceived notion, Dr. Soucek’s laboratory designed and validated Omomyc, the most characterised direct MYC inhibitor to date, which demonstrated potent therapeutic impact in various mouse models of cancer. An Omomyc-based mini-protein therapeutic developed by Peptomyc S.L. – OMO-103 – has recently successfully completed a Phase 1 clinical study, demonstrating safety and encouraging signs of clinical activity. OMO-103 is now being tested in a Phase Ib clinical trial in metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients in combination with standard of care chemotherapy, and in a Phase II clinical study in advanced osteosarcoma patients.