MD Anderson and Yingli Pharma announce strategic alliance to advance many oncology programs

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jan 20 2022

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Yingli Pharma US, Inc. today announced a strategic alliance to advance several oncology programs from preclinical discovery through clinical development.

The five-year collaboration brings together Yingli's experience in medicinal chemistry with MD Anderson's comprehensive clinical and translational resources to drive existing Yingli therapeutic candidates into four U.S.-based clinical trials and to facilitate preclinical discovery and development in additional indications.

This tremendous opportunity will accelerate our efforts as we look to bring new pharmacological agents to cancer patients in need. We look forward to working with the experts at MD Anderson, complementing our own expertise as we continue to build a well-rounded oncology pipeline."

Michael Hui, MBA, chief executive officer of Yingli

Two of the programs supported by the collaboration will leverage favorable clinical trial findings collected from China-based studies. The first program will focus on linperlisib, a PI3Kδ inhibitor with a novel structure, which has had positive results in eight active or completed Phase I and Phase II clinical trials for patients with lymphomas and solid tumors, including peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL).

"We are pleased to be working with Yingli to initiate a Phase II clinical trial evaluating linperlisib in patients with PTCL," said principal investigator Swaminathan Iyer, M.D., professor of Lymphoma & Myeloma at MD Anderson. "This collaboration brings a potentially effective treatment option with a favorable safety profile to the U.S. to address an unmet need for patients with this aggressive cancer. I look forward to leading this exciting study."

The second program will develop YL-13027, a novel, oral TGFβR1 inhibitor for use in advanced solid tumors with plans to initiate a U.S.-based Phase I clinical trial in 2022, led by Jordi Rodon, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at MD Anderson.

"The TGFβ pathway is an important immune regulator in the tumor microenvironment, and new treatments focused on enhancing anti-tumor immunity are desperately needed," Rodon said. "We look forward to working with Yingli to conduct the first U.S.-based clinical trial evaluating their TGFβR1 inhibitor."

In addition to advancing existing clinical programs, the collaboration also will focus on translational studies to further Yingli's discovery programs. The collaborative approach will provide a steady stream of new therapeutic candidates for oncology clinical development, which the MD Anderson team, including David S. Hong, M.D., deputy chair of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, will investigate.