RS Research Announces Dose Escalation in the Phase I Clinical Study of RS-0139

18 July 2022

RS Research, a clinical-stage biotechnology start-up developing smart nanomedicines for targeted chemotherapy, announced the progress of its leading candidate RS-0139’s Phase I trial (RS-001) on NSCLC. Designing drug candidates with improved safety profile and superior therapeutic index based on its proprietary Sagitta^TM drug delivery technology, RS Research will advance to the next dose level following the positive review of the safety data by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC).

Esteemed medical experts of IDMC recommended that the clinical trial continues as planned and escalates from the first dose of 75 mg/m² to the next dose of 100 mg/m². RS-0139 was designed for the treatment of various cancer indications, with the initial phase I ongoing with NSCLC patients. Sagitta^TM technology enables nanomedicine to target the receptors on the tumor cell surface, reducing side effects sparing the healthy cells from its harmful effects.

Five drug candidates in RS Research pipeline address the unmet needs of over 6 million newly diagnosed oncology patients. According to World Health Organization, in 2020 lung cancer patients alone constituted 2.2 million of this population. RS Research was founded in 2015 by Prof. Rana Sanyal and Sena Nomak as an academic spin-off from Boğaziçi University to take the necessary R&D and commercialization steps for bringing innovative therapies to patients. The company raised funds from national and international funding agencies along with over 14 million USD from investors including GEN Pharmaceuticals, Eczacıbaşı Momentum, Istanbul Asset Management and ACT Venture Partners.

RS Research
RS Research was founded by Prof. Rana Sanyal and Sena Nomak to take the necessary steps for bringing innovative therapies to patients, carrying out the research to clinic based on the proprietary drug delivery platforms Sagitta^TM Bir and Sagitta^TM Dui, patents covering 58 countries. Thanks to this technology, RS Research can increase effectiveness of chemotherapy and reduce side effects. The nanomedicine taken into the cell thanks to the targeting module that recognizes the receptors on the tumor surface, releases the active substance here, showing its full effect only to the tumor. The nanomedicine is released only when it is in the tumor after the targeting moiety recognize the cell surface receptors. RS Research raised 2 million Euros seed funding in 2017, followed by 12 million USD Series-A investment round in 2021. The company developed 5 drug candidates designed based on Sagitta^TM platform technology addressing multiple indications in its pipeline. The Phase I clinical trial of the leading drug candidate which received the first ever approval by the MoH to move towards clinical trials in Turkey is ongoing in two clinical research sites since May 2021. Further details regarding the clinical trial are available at clinicaltrials.gov with the trial identifier NCT04261413. RS Research’s clean room with both synthesis and filling capability was granted GMP license by the MoH for clinical batch lyophilized oncology drugs in August 2021.

For detailed information:

ozgecesur@rsresearch.net