Tom Petty is known for several anthems. Among them are ‘Free Fallin,’ ‘I Won’t Back Down,’ ‘The Waiting,’ ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream,’ ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance,’ and our personal favorite, ‘Don’t Come Around Here No More.’
The song (and the trippy Alice in Wonderland-like video) speak directly to us because it is the exact message that we want our lead therapeutics, RRx-001/nibrozetone and AdAPT-001 to deliver to conditions of unmet medical need.
To cancer, severe oral mucositis, neurodegenerative diseases, endometriosis, and others, we say emphatically, hey, don’t come around here no more.
AdAPT-001 is an oncolytic adenovirus that turns cancer cells into personal Xerox machines which copy the virus repeatedly and the immunostimulatory TGF-β trap that it carries. In the process the cancer cells burst open or lyse, which hopefully activates the immune system to go on the attack against them.
The message? Don’t come around here no more.
RRx-001/nibrozetone is a small molecule with a split personality. In normal tissues it is protective through inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome-based inflammation and activation of the antioxidant protein, Nrf2. In diseased tissues, however, RRx-001/nibrozetone transforms to release toxic byproducts like nitric oxide.
The message? Don’t come around here no more.
Two Phase 2 trials with AdAPT-001, ‘BETA PRIME’ in sarcomas and ‘HAI MAINTENANCE’ in liver-predominant colorectal cancer and two late-stage clinical trials with RRx-001/nibrozetone, ‘REPLATINUM’ in 3rd line or beyond small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and KEVLARx in 1st line head and neck cancer will determine whether and to what extent that message is received.
In the meantime, as Tom Petty also sings, the waiting is the hardest part.