MIPT: KRAS inhibitor drug for lung cancer

The main articles are:

• Lung cancer
• Drugs to treat cancer

2024: KRAS Inhibitor Drug Design

 The KRAS inhibitor-based drug designed by the Institute for Biophysics of the Future of MIPT will be used as part of targeted cancer therapy for lung cancer. The drug substance meets all import substitution standards and will be tested in vitro by the end of 2024. MIPT announced this on August 19, 2024.

Lung cancer  is a malignant lung neoplasm originating from the epithelial tissue of the bronchi. According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), it is this pathology that is the most common cancer in the world. Lung cancer accounts for 12.4% of the total number of new cases of cancer, in fact, this is about 2.5 million people. 

The drug developed on the basis of MIPT for the treatment of lung cancer directly affects malignant cells, minimally affecting healthy tissues of the human body. This approach to cancer therapy is called targeted or targeted. According to Anton Alasheev, head of the laboratory for preclinical research at the Institute of Biophysics of the Future of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the creation of innovative drugs for the treatment of oncopathology is a priority direction for the development of Russian pharmaceuticals.

Work on a project to create a drug for the treatment of lung cancer began with a study of the "excitement" around the world pharmaceutical industry. This turned out to be KRAS inhibitors. As of August 2024, two active substances based on them have already been registered: sotorasib and dagrasib. There is also a lot of work on other analogues in parallel. After that, at the laboratory base of Fiztech, we "delineated" new structures - the so-called library of compounds. We have begun their synthesis for further verification of in vitro activity, "said Anton Alasheev, head of the preclinical research laboratory at the Institute of Biophysics of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology of the Future.

Employees of the Institute of Biophysics of the Future MIPT have already performed computer modeling of the drug. In the near future, Fiztech will host the synthesis of drug substances, the preparation of panels for in vitro testing, and the testing itself. Also, MIPT has already launched a technological site for the production of finished dosage forms. 

We launched a laboratory for the synthesis of drugs. We have recruited specialists - physicists and chemists - and are developing competencies in contract research. In 2024, we are launching an industrial chemical synthesis site. This topic is especially relevant in our domestic farm due to changes in legislation. This is done to support manufacturers of pharmaceuticals that have localized production of substances. Previously, it was much more profitable to purchase them in India and China, and now the state supports and stimulates manufacturers whose production of the active substance is localized. There is now a great demand for chemical synthesis. And in 2023, a list of our physical technical drugs appeared, - said Anton Alasheev, head of the laboratory for preclinical research at the Institute of Biophysics of the Future of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

The project to create a drug for the treatment of lung cancer is part of the grant project "Development of technology to increase the competitiveness of the market introduction of a line of export-oriented products in the field of drug therapy" within the framework of Strategic Project No. 1 "Fiztech is the driving force behind the most important technological transitions." By the end of 2024, the drug substance for the treatment of respiratory oncopathology will be tested in vitro.