Tosk’s pipeline consists of four proprietary, small molecule drug compounds. All of Tosk’s drugs are relatively inexpensive to produce and administer, unlike many cancer drugs currently undergoing development by other pharmaceutical companies.
TK-90
Prevents mucositis, a dose-limiting and potentially fatal adverse effect of cancer and other therapies. TK-90 has recently completed proof of concept clinical studies in head and neck cancer patients. In these studies, TK-90 prevented virtually all of the mucositis in patients receiving high doses of chemotherapy.
Mucositis is the painful inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membranes lining the mouth, throat, and digestive tract. Mucositis can limit the dose and duration of cancer treatment and is often considered more painful and debilitating than the cancer itself. Mucositis is caused by a number of frontline cancer treatments, including, methotrexate, 5-FU, and radiation therapy, which are used to treat breast, colon, head and neck, and pancreatic cancers, as well as leukemia.
TK-39
Prevents the cardiotoxicity caused by a class of widely-used cancer drugs known as the anthracyclines, which include doxorubicin, daunorubicin, and Doxil® , as well as Herceptin® (trastuzumab) and Perjeta® (pertuzumab). These drugs are frontline therapies for many cancers, including, breast, lung, bladder, and stomach cancers, as well as leukemia and lymphoma. Doxorubicin is particularly effective for lymphoma, and when doxorubicin was first introduced, it yielded a dramatic improvement in outcomes for lymphoma patients.
Unfortunately, these otherwise effective cancer drugs cause permanent damage to the heart muscle. Since the damage is irreversible, the lifetime dose must be limited to about a gram per patient. Even at this limited dose, 3-5% of patients experience congestive heart failure within two years and 25% suffer congestive heart failure within 10 years.
TK-39 is in the final stages of preclinical testing needed to file an IND with the US FDA.
TK-kRAS
Is being developed to block the activity of the variant of the mutant kRAS gene that drives tumor growth in 90% of pancreatic, 45% of colon, and 35% of lung cancers, as well as a lower percentage of many other cancers. Blocking the activity of cancer genes has been goal of many pharmaceutical discovery efforts, but results using traditional discovery methods have been disappointing. Tosk has harnessed its Genetically Modified Fly technology to yield kRAS-blocking leads that are currently being optimized.
A portion of this work has been supported by the National Cancer Institute .
TK-88
Is being developed to block the kidney toxicity, peripheral neuropathy, and hearing loss caused by platinum-based drugs such as cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin. These drugs are effective in many cancers, including, ovarian, breast, cervical, and lung cancers. Unfortunately, as with doxorubicin, the adverse effects of these drugs are long-lasting, debilitating, and potentially life threatening.