Qurient’s CDK7 inhibitor extends survival in preclinical pediatric brain cancer study
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Korean biotech Qurient presented compelling preclinical data at ISPNO 2026 in Sydney, revealing that its CDK7 inhibitor mocaciclib effectively penetrated the central nervous system to significantly extend survival in lethal, MYC-driven pediatric brain cancers.
Korean biotech Qurient said Tuesday its experimental CDK7 inhibitor mocaciclib (Q901) extended survival in mouse models of two aggressive pediatric brain cancers, with the findings presented at the International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (ISPNO 2026), held in Sydney last week.Preclinical data on mocaciclib in pediatric brain tumors were presented during an oral session at ISPNO 2026 in Sydney.
The drug, an inhibitor of the CDK7 enzyme, was tested in models of medulloblastoma and atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT), two rare childhood brain cancers driven by the cancer-promoting MYC gene, with poor survival rates and no approved targeted therapies.Mice given mocaciclib lived significantly longer than untreated mice, with an effect similar to directly deleting the CDK7 gene, Qurient said in its release, calling that evidence the drug hits its intended target.The drug also reached the brain and central nervous system without causing significant weight loss or blood abnormalities in the animals.
The MYC-driven subtype of medulloblastoma targeted in the study presents with metastasis in up to 45 percent of cases and has a five-year survival rate of about 50 percent.AT/RT is rarer, with fewer than 100 cases diagnosed annually in the United States.
The research was led by Jean Mulcahy Levy of the University of Colorado and the Morgan Adams Foundation Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Program at Children's Hospital Colorado.Qurient, which developed the drug, was a study co-author. The team proposed a clinical trial in children with relapsed medulloblastoma or AT/RT to test safe dosing, Qurient said.
Mocaciclib is also being studied in adults. The CDK7 inhibitor is in a phase 1/2 trial in advanced solid tumors.Qurient recently dosed the first patient in a phase 2 trial combining mocaciclib with fulvestrant in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer after CDK4/6 inhibitor failure.The company also has a cooperative research agreement with the U.S. National Cancer Institute to study mocaciclib with a TROP2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC).Qurient licensed the compound from Germany's Lead Discovery Center, where it originated from research at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry.
