BeyondSpring R&D Day Highlights New Plinabulin Development Strategy for Cancer and Updates for SEED Therapeutics

Core Insights - BeyondSpring Inc. hosted a virtual R&D Day to discuss its lead asset Plinabulin and updates on SEED Therapeutics, focusing on addressing unmet medical needs in cancer treatment [1][2] Plinabulin Developments - Plinabulin is a dendritic cell maturation agent that may serve as a combination therapy for patients who have failed PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, with potential to move into earlier treatment lines [2] - The drug has shown durable anti-cancer benefits and a unique mechanism of action, driving dendritic cell maturation and T-cell activation [2] - In a phase 3 study, the combination of plinabulin and docetaxel significantly extended overall survival (OS) in all subgroup analyses, doubling the 2-year and 3-year OS rates compared to docetaxel alone [2] - Plinabulin demonstrated a >50% disease control rate in patients with multiple cancers that progressed during PD-1/PD-L1 therapy [2] - Approximately 60% of patients on PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors fail treatment, highlighting a significant unmet need that plinabulin may address [2] SEED Therapeutics Updates - SEED Therapeutics is advancing its proprietary TPD platform to develop "molecular glues" for previously undruggable targets, with a focus on oncology, neurodegeneration, immunology, and virology [4][5] - The RITE3 platform is "target centric," utilizing novel E3 ligases, and has a higher binder hit rate due to detectable weak basal interactions [4] - SEED has 6 internal pipeline assets and 2 partnered assets, with plans to file an IND for an oral RBM39 degrader in early 2025 [4] - Eli Lilly is a collaborator, with potential payments up to $780 million and tiered royalties, having achieved 3 milestones in their partnership [5][6] Future Outlook - Preliminary results from ongoing Investigator-Initiated Trials (IIT) of plinabulin are expected in the second half of 2024, which may further validate its unique mechanism of action [3] - BeyondSpring aims to explore third-party partnerships to extend plinabulin's outreach based on interim clinical data [3]