Jeil Pharmaceutical’s subsidiary, Onconic Therapeutics, announced on Wednesday that two preclinical research results for their next-generation synthetic lethal dual-target anticancer drug candidate, Nesuparib, have been selected for poster presentations at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference. The event will be held in San Diego from April 17 to 22. The research abstracts were also unveiled for the first time through AACR.
The simultaneous selection of research results for multiple cancer types for a single drug candidate like Nesuparib not only demonstrates the substance’s excellence but also highlights its technological competitiveness.
Onconic Therapeutics has garnered significant attention after revealing the research results for Nesuparib in small cell lung cancer, following its Food and Drug Administration (FDA) orphan drug designation approval in February. In small cell lung cancer cell experiments (in vitro), Nesuparib showed up to 133 times stronger cancer cell growth inhibition compared to the existing poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor Olaparib, and about 25 times stronger than Irinotecan, a chemotherapy drug used for small cell lung cancer treatment.
Moreover, in small cell lung cancer xenograft animal model experiments (in vivo), Nesuparib exhibited a tumor suppression rate of 66.5%, surpassing the antitumor efficacy of Olaparib (36%) and Irinotecan (42.9%).
The study also confirmed that Nesuparib’s antitumor effect in small cell lung cancer is based on its distinctive dual action of inhibiting both the Wnt and Hippo signaling pathways, known to be involved in cancer development and metastasis.
Following its success with small cell lung cancer, Nesuparib is currently undergoing Phase 2 clinical trials for pancreatic cancer. The selection of preclinical research that could indicate its differentiated potential for clinical success and commercial value has sparked interest in the data contained in the abstracts.
This study has caught the industry’s attention as it confirms that Nesuparib can demonstrate antitumor effects in pancreatic cancer regardless of breast cancer gene (BRCA) mutation status, addressing a limitation of existing PARP inhibitors.
According to the newly released abstract, in pancreatic cancer cell experiments (in vitro) without BRCA mutations, combining Nesuparib with the first-line standard treatment for pancreatic cancer, Gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel, resulted in over 70% reduction in surviving cancer cells compared to the Gemcitabine treatment group.
Additionally, in pancreatic cancer xenograft animal model experiments (in vivo), the combination of Nesuparib and Gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel showed a 79% reduction in tumor size.
Expectations are rising for the results of the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with advanced/metastatic pancreatic cancer, as well as for the presentation of the previously completed Phase 1b trial results.
An Onconic Therapeutics spokesperson stated that it is committed to doing the utmost to successfully develop new anticancer drugs that provide novel treatment options in areas of high unmet medical need for hard-to-treat cancers.