SN Bioscience Co., Ltd. announced the results of the phase 1 clinical study of SNB-101, a nanoparticle anti-cancer new drug pipeline, at ESMO Congress 2023 held in Madrid, Spain from October 20 to 24.

This phase 1 clinical study was conducted to evaluate the safety and tolerability of SNB-101 administered to 21 patients with solid tumors in Korea and to determine the recommended dose for phase 2. CHA Bundang Medical Center (Professor Joo-Hang Kim), Catholic University of Korea Seoul ST. Mary's Hospital and Severance Hospital of the Yonsei University participated in this study.

In this phase 1 clinical study, patients with various solid cancers, such as small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, gastric cancer, esophageal cancer, head and neck cancer, and rectal cancer, who failed existing standard therapy were enrolled, and they had previously experienced 1st to 9th lines of treatment.

The results of the phase 1 study showed excellent safety in the dosage range (5 to 50 mg/m2 as of SN-38) and did not reach the maximum tolerable dose (MTD) even when all the cohorts were consumed. The most common adverse drug reactions were hematological, such as neutropenia, and were well manageable. In particular, diarrhea of grade 3 or higher, a major adverse drug reaction that frequently occurs with irinotecan, a drug with same active moiety, was not observed. Accordingly, it was evaluated to have excellent safety and tolerability compared to the competitive drugs.

SNB-101 is a polymeric nanoparticle with an average particle size of approximately 100 nm, and in the preclinical studies, its distribution to the lungs was significantly higher than that of the anti-cancer drugs in conventional delivery. That aligns well with the efficacy results in lung-related tumors such as small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer from preclinical and phase 1 clinical studies. Based on the results, SN Bioscience plans to conduct multinational phase 2 clinical study targeting the small cell lung cancer in 2024.