Novartis has terminated a phase 2 trial of its SMURF1 inhibitor LTP001 in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) but will continue to advance the candidate in another indication.
The Swiss drugmaker stopped enrolling patients in the trial earlier this year, despite only being halfway to its target, but kept tracking the 46 people who were already in the study. Novartis changed the status of the trial again this week, updating it to “terminated” on ClinicalTrials.gov. A Novartis spokesperson confirmed the action with Fierce Biotech on Oct. 11.
“Novartis has made the decision to end the early ph2 study of LTP001,” the spokesperson said. “We continue to advance the SMURF1 inhibitor in development for its lead indication in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and will continue to evaluate future potential for IPF. There have been no concerning or new safety signals observed to date.”
The Swiss drugmaker began phase 2 trials of the prospect in PAH and IPF in 2022 and 2023. Novartis terminated a trial in its lead indication of PAH, plus an associated extension study, earlier this year.
The SMURF1 candidate falls outside of Novartis' five therapeutic areas of focus for its pipeline. Last year, the company decided to drop or outlicense 10% of its R&D projects as it narrowed its attention to a small clutch of technology platforms in the treatment of cardiovascular, hematology, solid tumor, immunology and neuroscience conditions.
LTP001 remained part of Novartis’ pipeline but was grouped with a short list of assets in development in other therapeutic areas. The drugmaker is investing in the drug candidate on the strength of evidence that SMURF1 ubiquitinates signaling molecules implicated in lung diseases. A recent study by another group found SMURF1 may inhibit autophagy and promote lung fibrosis.
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