Epil Biosciences Announces Preclinical Results Overcoming Drug Resistance in Prostate Cancer

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] EFIL Bioscience announced on the 1st that it will reveal preclinical data for 'EFIL-301,' a candidate substance that overcomes drug resistance in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), for the first time at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting starting on the 8th.

Currently, drugs marketed for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer include Astellas' Xtandi (active ingredient enzalutamide) and Johnson & Johnson's Zytiga (active ingredient abiraterone). These drugs are used as standard therapies for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who have been treated with docetaxel or have asymptomatic or mild symptoms, as well as for high-risk non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (m0CRPC) patients. However, a significant number of patients ultimately develop resistance to androgen receptor and receptor synthesis inhibitors such as Xtandi and Zytiga, making the development of treatments to overcome this resistance urgent.

EFIL Bioscience is developing treatments targeting the enzyme SOAT1 (sterol O-acyltransferase 1), which is involved in intracellular cholesterol storage, to regulate cholesterol metabolism for drug-resistant prostate cancer, dementia, and severe obesity treatment (Prader-Willi syndrome).

According to the preclinical results presented at AACR, EFIL-301, one of EFIL Bioscience's SOAT1 inhibitors, suppressed the growth of CRPC cells resistant to enzalutamide or induced resistance when administered in combination with enzalutamide.

In a CRPC xenograft animal model resistant to enzalutamide, co-administration of EFIL-301 (20 mg/kg) with enzalutamide once daily for three weeks inhibited tumor growth by more than 75% compared to the control group treated with enzalutamide alone. During this process, no weight loss or liver dysfunction was observed.

Professor Kim Ki-hong of Purdue University, who designed and conducted the experiment, stated, "Based on the experimental results, EFIL-301 has a high potential to be developed as a new option for treating castration-resistant prostate cancer with chemotherapy resistance." EFIL Bioscience CEO Kim Jung-hoon said, "We plan to conduct clinical trials targeting prostate cancer patients resistant to androgen receptor inhibitors using these research results."