Monopar Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: MNPR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for cancer patients, today announced that its Phase 1 dosimetry clinical trial for its novel radiopharmaceutical imaging agent MNPR-101-Zr (MNPR-101 conjugated to zirconium-89) is now active and recruiting patients with advanced cancers. The antibody MNPR-101 targets the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), which is expressed on numerous tumor types including pancreatic, breast, colorectal, and bladder.
The study is now open for enrollment at the Melbourne Theranostic Innovation Centre (MTIC) in Australia, and is being led by Professor Rodney Hicks, an internationally recognized physician and pioneer in the radiopharma space. MTIC will use one of the world's most sensitive, state-of-the-art, clinical total-body PET/CT (positron emission tomography–computed tomography) scanners, the Siemens Biograph Vision Quadra, to image the tumor targeting ability of MNPR-101-Zr in advanced cancer patients.
The Phase 1 dosimetry trial is evaluating the safety and dosimetry of MNPR-101-Zr in up to 12 patients with advanced cancer. Preclinical data to date have shown highly specific and durable tumor uptake of MNPR-101-Zr in human cancer xenograft models. Moreover, Monopar recently shared positive preclinical efficacy data showing potent and durable anti-tumor activity of MNPR-101 bound to therapeutic radioisotopes. If the tumor uptake, biodistribution, and safety look encouraging in this Phase 1 clinical trial for MNPR-101-Zr, the Company plans to expand the study or initiate a new study to test the potential efficacy of MNPR-101 bound to a therapeutic radioisotope such as Ac-225 in patients with advanced cancers.
“The Monopar team is quite excited about this trial initiation,” said Chandler Robinson, MD, Monopar’s Chief Executive Officer. “The preclinical results to date in hard-to-treat cancers such as pancreatic and triple negative breast have impressed us, with our radiopharma program demonstrating a promising ability to selectively target and destroy uPAR expressing tumors. We are very much looking forward to seeing the biodistribution and dosimetry data from this first-in-human study in advanced cancer patients.”
Further information about the MNPR-101-Zr trial is available at www.ClinicalTrials.gov under study identifier NCT06337084.
About Monopar Therapeutics Inc.
Monopar Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for cancer patients. Monopar's pipeline consists of Phase 1-stage MNPR-101 for radiopharmaceutical use in various advanced cancers; Phase 1b-stage camsirubicin for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma; and an early-stage camsirubicin analog, MNPR-202. For more information, visit: www.monopartx.com and ir.monopartx.com/presentations.
