MingMed Biotechnology, a China-based clinical stage company, announced on Thursday that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for PRJ1-3024, a HPK1 small-molecule inhibitor for cancer immunotherapy.

Dr Xuebin Liao, a professor of Pharmaceutical Science at Tsinghua University and a member of the board of directors at MingMed Biotechnology, said, 'HPK1 plays a key role in controlling immune responses against various cancers. Targeting HPK1 effectively regulates several important immune cells, activating their synergistic anti-tumour effects. MingMed's scientists have built a solid foundation around the molecular mechanism underlying how HPK1 functions in promoting the exhaustion of local anti-tumour immunity. Additionally, our HPK1 inhibitor PRJ1-3024 has showed very good selectivity as a drug candidate and FDA approval is a crucial milestone announcing MingMed as a potential key player in the competition to find novel cancer immunotherapeutics. We will continue to push our clinical studies for the benefits of cancer patients around the world.'

The firm has also completed its phase one clinical trials for its dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) drug QA102 in the United States.