Tyra Biosciences has partnered with a patient advocacy group to create an awareness day for upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC), a rare tumor type that its lead drug candidate targets.
Working with the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN), Tyra named May 21 UTUC Awareness Day. The partners envision the day increasing awareness of the disease and highlighting the importance of continued research. UroGen Pharma won FDA approval for the first nonsurgical treatment for low-grade UTUC in 2020, but Tyra sees a persistent unmet need that it aims to address through a phase 2 program.
UTUC is a rare form of urothelial cancer—Tyra estimates (PDF) the annual U.S. addressable population is 3,000 people—and as such has “historically received limited attention despite the profound impact it can have on patients’ lives,” BCAN CEO Meri-Margaret Deoudes said in a statement.
Deoudes pitched UTUC Awareness Day as a way to correct the historical lack of attention on the disease, calling it “an important step toward building greater recognition, creating a patient community and encouraging more education, advocacy and research.”
Tyra is among a few companies working on the indication. UroGen’s Jelmyto, a hydrogel chemotherapy reformulation, is the only commercially available treatment for low-grade UTUC. ImPact Biotech expects to publish phase 3 data this year and find a commercialization partner. Ferring Pharmaceuticals is running a phase 1/2 trial of Adstiladrin. Sustained Therapeutics’ ST-02 is in phase 2/3.
Tyra began a phase 2a/2b trial of its oral FGFR3-selective inhibitor in December. While commercialization is a distant prospect for many assets early in midphase development, the experience of UroGen—which won FDA approval based on a 71-patient, single-arm phase 3 trial—suggests Tyra could benefit from a short path to market. The biotech expects to generate initial results from the midphase trial next year.