Agios Pharmaceuticals continues to progress

Agios Kirykos, Ikaria, Greece. Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agios_Kirikos,_Ikaria.jpg

Agios Kirykos, Ikaria, Greece. Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agios_Kirikos,_Ikaria.jpg

Because of being very busy with other projects, we have not posted an article on this blog since April 10, 2014. However, the Biopharmconsortium Blog is still here. More importantly, Haberman Associates biotech/pharma consulting is still here, and we’re still accepting new clients.

Thanks to the many readers who have continued to follow our website and blog during our blogging hiatus, and who have linked to our blog on Twitter and on other social media.

During the hiatus, several of the companies that we have been following on our blog have been progressing. Over the next several months, we shall be blogging about some of these companies, as well as about other notable industry events that have occurred in recent weeks and that will occur during the remainder of 2014.

The first company that we are writing about is cancer metabolism specialist Agios Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA). Our most recent three articles about Agios on this blog are:

In our September 23, 2013 article, we noted that Agios had initiated its first clinical study—a Phase 1 clinical trial of AG-221 in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies bearing an isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) mutation. AG-221 is a first-in-class, orally available, selective, potent inhibitor of the mutated IDH2 protein. It is thus a targeted (and personalized) therapy for patients with cancers with an IDH2 mutation.

On June 14, 2014, Agios reported on new clinical data in its ongoing Phase 1 trial of AG-221, which was presented at the 19th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in Milan, Italy by Stéphane de Botton, M.D. (Institut de Cancérologie Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France).

The presentation reported on the results of AG-221 treatment of 35 patients with IDH2 mutation positive hematologic malignancies. The researchers observed objective responses in 14 out of 25 evaluable patients, and stable disease in an additional 5 patients. Six patients experienced complete remissions which lasted from one to four months, and are still ongoing. AG-221 has shown favorable pharmacokinetics at all doses tested, with large reductions in serum levels of the oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG). AG-221 was also well tolerated.

The new data confirms and builds upon previously results. The favorable safety and efficacy data supports Agios’ plan to initiate four expansion cohorts in the second half of 2014. Agios also expects to submit additional data from the ongoing Phase 1 trial for presentation at a later scientific meeting in 2014.

Meanwhile, as announced on June 13, 2014, Agios’ partner Celgene exercised its option to an exclusive worldwide license for AG-221. It exercised this option early, based on the Phase 1 data generated so far.

On June 16, 2014, Agios announced that the FDA granted orphan drug designation for AG-221 for treatment of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). On August 13, 2014, the FDA also granted Fast Track designation to AG-221 for the treatment of patients with AML that carry an IDH2 mutation.

Thus development of Agios’ lead compound, AG-221, continues to progress. Several other Agios R&D programs are also progressing, as detailed in the company’s report for the second quarter of 2014.


As the producers of this blog, and as consultants to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, Haberman Associates would like to hear from you. If you are in a biotech or pharmaceutical company, and would like a 15-20-minute, no-obligation telephone discussion of issues raised by this or other blog articles, or of other issues that are important to your company, please contact us by phone or e-mail. We also welcome your comments on this or any other article on this blog.

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