Pharmaceutical company Syntrix Pharmaceuticals reported on Monday the receipt of a grant, valued at USD3.4m, to assess its investigational CXCR1/2 inhibitor SX-682 in patients with low- and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who had progression or were intolerant to prior therapy.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature and therefore do not become healthy blood cells. Early on, there are typically no symptoms. Later symptoms may include feeling tired, shortness of breath, easy bleeding, or frequent infections.

The company received the three-year grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

According to the company, the SX-682 is a clinical-stage oral allosteric small-molecule inhibitor of CXCR1 and CXCR2 (CXCR1/2), a combined "master switch" of the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment. SX-682 exhibits mono-agent anti-tumour activity, blocks metastasis, depletes immunosuppressive myeloid cells, activates tumour killing by effector cells, reverses chemo-resistance as well as potently synergizes with anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD1.

This phase 1/2 clinical trial will reportedly be carried out in collaboration with researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center led by Dr Rami Kamrokji and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. This Phase 1/2 trial in MDS patients will test the hypothesis that targeting CXCR1/2 with SX-682 will be efficacious in the disease by eliminating the MDS stem cells and bone marrow MDSCs. The US FDA has approved the protocol for the study in an IND sponsored by Syntrix.