Schrödinger Nixes Leukemia Drug After 2 Deaths

Schrödinger has discontinued the clinical development program for SGR-2921, its CDC7 inhibitor being evaluated in a Phase 1 dose-escalation study in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia or high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. “Despite early evidence of monotherapy activity observed in the Phase 1 study, based on the profile observed to date, including two emergent events where SGR-2921 was considered to have contributed to two deaths in patients with AML, Schrödinger believes the path to development as a combination therapy would be difficult to pursue,” a company statement says.

The Phase 1 study was based on preclinical data that demonstrated CDC7 inhibition resulted in monotherapy and combination anti-leukemic responses in patient-derived AML models, suggesting the therapy could e used in combination with standard-of-care agents, Schrödinger says.