NEW YORK – Tempus said on Thursday that it is collaborating with Actuate Therapeutics to identify and validate biomarker profiles for patients who may benefit from treatment with Actuate's GSK-3β inhibitor elraglusib.
Tempus will provide its xF+ liquid biopsy panel, a clinical cell-free DNA test comprising 523 genes, and its DNA methylation test, which is for research use only, as part of an ongoing clinical trial to identify patients who may respond to the drug. The Phase I/II Actuate 1801 study is evaluating elraglusib alone and in combination with chemotherapy in patients with refractory blood cancers and solid tumors.
"Elraglusib is currently advancing into multiple Phase II clinical trials including a randomized study in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer," Actuate Chief Operating Officer Andrew Mazar said in a statement. "We have observed evidence of elraglusib clinical benefit in multiple advanced cancer histologies that may correlate with biomarker profiles that will be identified or further explored using Tempus' xF+ and [research-use-only] DNA methylation platforms in patient cfDNA."
Actuate, based in Fort Worth, Texas, has several ongoing studies of elraglusib, including in pancreatic cancer, salivary gland carcinoma, myelofibrosis, and pediatric cancers. The firm expects to initiate cohorts in the Actuate 1801 study in T-cell leukemia and lymphoma, melanoma, and ovarian, lung, and esophageal cancers later this year.