Abstract PO-009: AC676 a BTK Chimeric Degrader: Phase 1 study in patients with B-cell Malignancies
Authors: Patel Manish R , Tees Michael , Awan Farrukh T , Khan Nadia , Mota Nancy , Zhang Hui , Kim Su Young , Woyach Jennifer 
Published: June 2024

Study Background: Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a key signaling molecule that plays a central role in B-cell receptor transduction. The development of agents that inhibit BTK has transformed the management of patients with B-cell malignancies. However, therapy using covalent BTK inhibitors such as ibrutinib, as well as non-covalent inhibitors such as pirtobrutinib, can still result in resistance, primarily due to the development of mutations in BTK including residues C481 and L528. AC676 is designed as a chimeric degrader to target and degrade BTK using Accutar's proprietary Protein-Protein Interaction Targeting Chimeras (PPI-TAC) platform. By effectively linking a BTK ligand to the cereblon E3-ligase recruiting ligand, AC676 brings BTK in proximity to cereblon, thereby inducing subsequent ubiquitination and degradation of BTK. AC676 degrades BTK proteins irrespective of mutations; including C481, kinase dead L528 and others, and thus may be effective for the treatment of patients who have progressed on both covalent and non-covalent BTK inhibitors. Notably, it is also effective in cell lines expressing gain of function PLCG2 mutants, suggesting that it removes BTK’s scaffolding function. AC676 does not degrade cereblon neo-substrates, so neutropenia is not expected to be an on-target effect. This abstract describes an ongoing first in human Phase 1 trial of AC676.

Study Description: AC676-001 is a Phase 1 dose-escalation study of AC676 administered orally once daily as monotherapy in patients with relapsed and refractory B-cell malignancies. Approximately 60 patients may be enrolled. Eligible patients must be ≥ 18 years, and have one of the following histologically confirmed relapsed or refractory disease types: chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma, diffuse large B cell lymphoma – non-GCB subtype, follicular lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, marginal zone lymphoma, lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma including Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia. Patients must have received at least two prior systemic therapies or have no other standard of care therapies to provide significant clinical benefit. Patients must have measurable disease per disease-specific response criteria and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤ 1. Dose-escalation will begin with an accelerated titration phase, followed by a standard 3+3 phase. AC676 is administered orally once daily on a 28 day per cycle schedule at doses ranging from 50mg to 600mg. The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of AC676. Secondary objectives include the evaluation of anti-tumor activity and the pharmacokinetic profile following single and multiple doses. Study enrollment began April in 2023 with five sites currently open in the United States (NCT05780034).

Citation Format: Manish R Patel, Michael Tees, Farrukh T Awan, Nadia Khan, Nancy Mota, Hui Zhang, Su Young Kim, Jennifer Woyach. AC676 a BTK Chimeric Degrader: Phase 1 study in patients with B-cell Malignancies [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Fourth AACR International Meeting on Advances in Malignant Lymphoma: Maximizing the Basic-Translational Interface for Clinical Application; 2024 Jun 19-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Blood Cancer Discov 2024;5(3_Suppl):Abstract nr PO-009.