Affinity Biopharma announced today that the clinical trial application for its novel precision-guided paclitaxel-based drug QHL-236 (Legutaxel) has been granted implied permission by the National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA) for the treatment of solid tumors. Paclitaxel is a natural anticancer drug that has been widely used clinically in ovarian, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers, as well as in the treatment of lung, colorectal, melanoma, head and neck cancer, lymphoma, and brain tumors. But both paclitaxel and nab-paclitaxel have myelosuppressive hematological toxicity in clinical practice, and other side effects include allergy, neurotoxicity, cardiovascular toxicity, gastrointestinal symptoms, liver toxicity, alopecia and so on.  

QHL-236 (Legutaxel) is a new type of precision-guided Taxanes. Its activity in normal tissues is blocked and will only be accumulated and released in the tumor local environment, which can significantly reduce the toxic and side effects of chemotherapy and improve the therapeutic index. Also due to its low immunotoxicity, it is suitable for combination therapy with immunotherapy to treat various advanced solid tumors.