Rahul Aggarwal1, Michael T. Schweizer2, Allan Pantuck3, David Nanus4, Elisabeth Heath5, Sanjay Lakhotia6, Michael H. Silverman6, Lisa Bauman6,
Margo Snyder6, Karen Norek6, Emily Gesner6, Sarah Attwell6, Eric Campeau6, Wassim Abida7*, and Joshi J. Alumkal8*
1. University of California San Francisco; 2. University of Washington, Seattle; 3. University of California Los Angeles; 4. Weill Cornell Medical Center; 5. Karmanos Cancer Institute; 6. Zenith Epigenetics Ltd.; 7. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; 8. University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. *These authors contributed equally
Results from a Phase 1b/2a study of the BET bromodomain inhibitor ZEN-3694 in combination with
enzalutamide in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC)
Study Cohort (N = 71)
Median Age (range) 70 (47 – 89)
Race/Ethnicity (%) White/Black/Asian 60 (84)/ 3 (4)/ 4 (6)
Median PSA, ng/mL (range) 26.7 (0.1 – 1701.8)
Median LDH, U/L (range) 190 (98 – 352)
Median alkaline phosphatase, U/L (range) 81 (33 - 487)
Visceral metastases (%) 12 (18)
Bone pain requiring opioid analgesic use (%) 15 (24)
Low PSA secretors and high risk CRPC* (%) 11 (17)
Prior Therapy (%) ABI/ENZ/Both 30 (40)/ 37 (49)/ 8 (11)
Reason for prior ABI/ENZ discontinuation • Radiographic progression
• Radiographic and PSA progression • Clinical and PSA progression
• PSA progression
13 (21) 20 (32)
3 (5) 27 (42)
Baseline Characteristics
* PSA < 10 ng/mL with concomitant presence of visceral metastases and/or ≥ 10 bone metastases
Background
• Androgen receptor signaling inhibitors (ARSI) such as abiraterone (ABI) and enzalutamide (ENZ) demonstrate frequent cross-resistance, limiting efficacy of sequential AR targeting in CRPC
• Bromodomain and Extra-Terminal domain (BET) inhibitors (BETi) inhibit several hallmark drivers of CRPC, including AR and MYC signaling, and the E26 transformation-specific (ETS) family
• ZEN-3694 is an orally bioavailable, potent, and selective BET bromodomain inhibitor with pre-clinical activity in ENZ-resistant CRPC models
• The combination of ZEN-3694 + ENZ in ABI/ENZ-resistant mCRPC was evaluated in a Phase 1b/2a multi-center study (NCT02711956) through the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium
Progressive mCRPC on 1st line abiraterone
(PSA and/or radiographic)
ZEN-3694 +
ENZ
Progressive mCRPC on 1st line enzalutamide
(PSA and/or radiographic)
Clinical Trial Design
• mCRPC with progression by PCWG2 criteria prior to study entry • Prior progression on ABI and/or ENZ • No prior chemotherapy for mCRPC • ECOG performance status of 0 or 1
Key Eligibility Criteria
• ZEN-3694 + ENZ patients showed longer TTP, comparing favorably with historical control of sequential AR targeting
• Analysis of paired biopsies shows inhibition of AR and MYC signaling and modulation of BET-dependent genes by ZEN-3694
• Baseline biopsies harbored several hallmarks of resistance to ARSI suggesting limited clinical activity of enzalutamide alone in these patients
• Initial results suggest that ZEN-3694 + ENZ can target tumors that developed ARSI resistance through loss of AR-dependency and restore sensitivity to ARSI
• Further clinical development of this combination is warranted
Conclusions
References 1. Aggarwal R, Abida W, Schweizer M, Pantuck A, Nanus D, Heath E, Lakhotia S, Hansen H, Silverman M, Bauman L et al: CT095: A Phase Ib/IIa study of the BET
bromodomain inhibitor ZEN-3694 in combination with enzalutamide in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Cancer Res 2019,
79(13 Supplement)
2. Asangani IA, Dommeti VL, Wang X, Malik R, Cieslik M, Yang R, Escara-Wilke J, Wilder-Romans K, Dhanireddy S, Engelke C et al: Therapeutic targeting of BET
bromodomain proteins in castration-resistant prostate cancer. Nature 2014, 510(7504):278-282.
3. Coleman DJ, Gao L, King CJ, Schwartzman J, Urrutia J, Sehrawat A, Tayou J, Balter A, Burchard J, Chiotti KE et al: BET bromodomain inhibition blocks the function
of a critical AR-independent master regulator network in lethal prostate cancer. Oncogene 2019
4. Aggarwal R, Huang J, Alumkal JJ, Zhang L, Feng FY, Thomas GV, Weinstein AS, Friedl V, Zhang C, Witte ON et al: Clinical and Genomic Characterization of
Treatment-Emergent Small-Cell Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer: A Multi-institutional Prospective Study. JCO 2018, 36(24):2492-2503
5. Cuzick J, Swanson GP, Fisher G, Brothman AR, Berney DM, Reid JE, Mesher D, Speights VO, Stankiewicz E, Foster CS et al: Prognostic value of an RNA expression
signature derived from cell cycle proliferation genes in patients with prostate cancer: a retrospective study. Lancet Oncol 2011, 12(3):245-255
6. Mu P, Zhang Z, Benelli M, Karthaus WR, Hoover E, Chen CC, Wongvipat J, Ku SY, Gao D, Cao Z et al: SOX2 promotes lineage plasticity and antiandrogen resistance
in TP53- and RB1-deficient prostate cancer. Science 2017, 355(:84-88.
Dose Escalation/Expansion Summary
• ZEN-3694 dosed from 36 mg to 144 mg with 160 mg ENZ daily without reaching a MTD
• 35 patients were treated in the Dose Escalation • 40 patients were treated in the Dose Expansion (26 at 96mg, 14 at 48mg) • The combination of ZEN-3694 and enzalutamide was well tolerated1
ZEN-3694 Exposure-Dependent Target Engagement in Whole Blood
2h 4h 6h 8h 10h
12h
14h
16h
18h
20h
22h
24h
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.51.52.02.53.0
Time Post-Dose
Fo
ld c
ha
ng
e m
RN
A
co
mp
are
d t
o p
re-d
os
e
ILIRN-002 patients 48 mg to 144 mg cohorts
48 mg
60 mg
72 mg
96 mg
120 mg
144 mg
2h 4h 6h 8h 10h
12h
14h
16h
18h
20h
22h
24h
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.51.52.02.53.0
Time Post-Dose
Fo
ld c
ha
ng
e m
RN
A
co
mp
are
d t
o p
re-d
os
e
CCR1-002 patients 48 mg to 144 mg cohorts
48 mg
60 mg
72 mg
96 mg
120 mg
144 mg
Sustained Target Engagement by ZEN-3694
ZEN-3694 elicits target mRNA engagement for >8 hours in patient’s whole blood and for 24 hours in several patients.
Exposure-dependent target engagement of ZEN-3694 in patient’s whole blood. Fold changes in mRNA expression were compared to the Pre-Dose sample on Day 1 for each patient. Data from the -001 single agent trail (NCT02705469) is also depicted in the trend lines (red dots).
Time-Course of CCR1 target engagement Time-Course of IL1RN target engagement
NES: 2.72
FDR: <0.001
NES:-1.51
FDR: 0.02
07 36 07 36
Basal
positive
Basal
negative
Luminal
positive
Luminal
negative
Loss of Luminal Identity in Two Patients with Longer TTP
Loss of luminal identity signature in 2 patients with longer TTP (007 and 036) through upregulation of basal cell markers6.
NES: 1.94
FDR: 0.001
Signature
positive
Signature
negative
NES: 1.75
FDR: 0.007
NES: -2.77
FDR: <0.001
t-SCNC+
37 07
t-SCNC
negative 37 07
t-SCNC+ t-SCNC
negative
Two Patients with Longer TTP Had Signatures of AR-independence,
t-SCNC, and High Cell Cycle Progression (CCP) Scores
Baseline biopsies from patients 007 and 037 with longer TTP had increased expression of AR-independent, BET-dependent master regulators3 (LEFT), t-SCNC signatures4 (CENTER) and high cell cycle progression5 (CCP) scores (RIGHT). 3 out of 4 t-SCNC mRNA signature positive biopsies were also t-SCNC positive by histopathology (not shown).
NES: 2.9
FDR: <0.001
37 07
CCP high CCP low
37 07
Baseline Biopsies Show Several Hallmarks of
Resistance to ARSI and AR-Independence
Long TTP
(>24 weeks)
Short TTP
(<24 weeks)
8
LONG TTP
(ARS low)
SHORT TTP
(Higher ARS)
Longer TTP Associated with Lower AR Signaling
Baseline biopsies from patients with longer TTP had lower AR signaling using either a 6 gene signature score (AR, KLK2/3/4, FKBP5, and TMPRSS2, Left) or the Hallmark of genes involved in androgen response (MSigDB, Right).
NES: -1.48
FDR: 0.01
LEFT: Significantly longer time to radiographic progression (TTP) for some patients that previously progressed on ABI or ENZ compared to standard second line therapy with ARSI. RIGHT: Several patients with radiographic progression (rPD) with a previous ARSI also showed longer TTP.
Prolonged Time to Radiographic Progression (TTP)
Median PFS rPD at screening: 34 weeks
Median PFS no rPD at screening: 45 weeks
Ra
dio
gra
ph
ic P
rog
ress
ion
Fre
e S
urv
iva
l (%
)
Median PFS ABIPGR: 45 weeks
Median PFS ENZPGR: 44 weeks
Median PFS ABI/ENZPGR: TBD
Ra
dio
gra
ph
ic P
rog
ress
ion
Fre
e S
urv
iva
l (%
)
Early PSA Spikes and PSA Responses are
Associated with Longer TTP
LEFT: 26/75 (35%) of patients had either a PSA response or a transient increase in PSA at week 4 or week 8 (PSA spike). RIGHT: Prolonged PSA90 response seen in three patients. BOTTOM: Patients with either a PSA response or spike showed longer TTP. P-values are shown compared to no PSA modulation.
Low PSA Secretors and High Disease Burden
Patients Have Prolonged rPFS
Patients with low PSA and high disease burden, a group with generally poor prognosis, showed improved time to progression (TTP).
Median rPFS High tumor burden PSA<10: 49 weeks
Median rPFS Low tumor burden PSA <10: 50 weeks
Median rPFS with baseline PSA >10: 34 weeks
Low PSA: <10 ng/ml High tumor burden at baseline • > 1 visceral metastases
AND/OR • Sum of target lesions ≥ 30mm
AND/OR • ≥ 10 bone lesions
Ra
dio
gra
ph
ic P
rog
ress
ion
Fre
e S
urv
iva
l (%
)
In-Tumor BETi Target Engagement by ZEN-3694:
Inhibition of AR and MYC Signaling
-40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 1200
10
20
30
40
Prolonged PSA90 Response
Weeks on trial
PS
A (
ng
/ml)
Patient 005 (radiographic progression under ABI)
Patient 006 (primary ABI resistance)
Patient 007 (M1 at diagnosis, primary ABI resistance)
START
ZEN-3694
START
ENZ
Two ongoing patients
with PSA90 >2.6 years
-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 700
20
40
60
300
600
Patients with PSA spike at w4 or w8
Weeks on trial
PS
A (
ng
/ml)
24 weeksSTART
ENZSTART
ZEN-3694
ENZ progressors
ABI progressors
0 20 40 60 80 100
120
140
0
50
100
PSA Modulation rPFS
Time to Radiographic Progression (w)P
erc
en
t s
urv
iva
l
PSA Spike at 12 wks (median rPFS 45 weeks)
No PSA Modulation (median rPFS 31 weeks)
PSA Response at 12 wks (median rPFS TBD)
p-value=0.007
Rad
iog
rap
hic
Pro
gre
ssio
n F
ree
Su
rviv
al
(%)
p-value=0.14
Volcano plots showing changes in gene expression between Pre- and On-Treatment (8 weeks) biopsies from 4 patients showing modulation (in blue) of BET-dependent genes2, (Left), significant inhibition of the Hallmark of androgen response (MSigDB, Center), and Hallmark MYC V1 Response (MSigDB, Right).
NES 1.23
FDR =0.12
-5 0 5
0.0001
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
Significant modulation of BET-dependent genesin paired biopsies
Log2 Fold Change
p-V
alu
e
All genes
BET-dependent genes (Wyce)
Significant modulation of BET-dependent
genes in paired biopsies
NES -1.56
FDR =0.002
Log2 Fold Change Compared to Baseline
-5 0 5
0.0001
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
Significant inhibition of AR signalingin paired biopsies
Log2 Fold Change
p-V
alu
e
All genes
Hallmark androgen response
NES -2.21
FDR <0.001
Significant inhibition of AR signaling
in paired biopsies
Log2 Fold Change Compared to Baseline
-5 0 5
0.0001
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
Significant inhibition of MYC signalingin paired biopsies
Log2 Fold Change
p-V
alu
e
All genes
HALLMARK MYC V1
Log2 Fold Change Compared to Baseline
NES -2.87
FDR <0.001
Significant inhibition of MYC signaling
in paired biopsies
L o n g T T P S h o r t T T P
-2
-1
0
1
2
A R S ig n a lin g (6 g e n e s c o re )
AR
Sig
na
lin
g S
co
re
p = 0 .0 0 8 (** )
1 0 1 0 0
-2
-1
0
1
2
A R S ig n a lin g (6 g e n e s c o re )
T im e o n S tu d y (W e e k s )
AR
Sig
na
lin
g S
co
re