Drug design on the fly

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and Mount Sinai School of Medicine have used a Drosophila cancer model to identify small molecule kinase inhibitors that target a discrete spectrum of kinases.¹ The lead molecule blocked tumor growth in a mouse model of medullary thyroid carcinoma better than the marketed kinase inhibitor Caprelsa vandetanib. An undisclosed pharma is negotiating to license the IP.

Because multiple kinase signaling pathways are often dysregulated in the same cancer, targeting several kinases simultaneously may have greater efficacy than attacking a single kinase...