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About TH9619 & ODIN Clinical Study

TH9619 is a first-in-class, potent, small-molecule, and dual inhibitor of MTHFD1/2 , highly overexpressed and cancer-specific enzymes within the one-carbon metabolic pathway. TH9619 kills cancer cells via a dual mechanism of action (1) inhibition of MTHFD1 traps folate leading to thymidine depletion (2) inhibition of nuclear MTHFD2 disrupts DNA damage response and repair pathways. With its unique characteristics, TH9619 kills tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue. 

TH9619 started to be investigated in the ODIN Phase 1/2 clinical study in 2025 ( NCT07151040 ; EudraCT No. 2024-519639-40-00). This is a first-in-human, multicenter, open label, dose escalation and expansion study, aiming at evaluating safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and preliminary anti-tumor activity of TH9619 as monotherapy in subjects with advanced refractory solid tumors, including colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, head & neck squamous cell carcinoma, gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction cancer.

The trial is currently being conducted across leading academic and clinical research centers in the United Kingdom, France, and Spain, with expansion planned across additional European sites in the coming months.

Learn more in the scientific references…

MTHFD1 & 2

Supporting fast growth through DNA building blocks

Many one-carbon metabolizing enzymes, including methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 (MTHFD1/2), are associated with the development of cancers. MTHFD2 is an oncofetal protein; under normal circumstances, it does not exist in healthy adult tissue; it is present only in embryos before cells mature into specialized organs. It is re-expressed in cancers and associated with poor disease outcomes. While not oncofetal, MTHFD1 is also associated with malignancy, and depletion of both MTHFD1 and 2 proteins abrogates malignant phenotypes, such as proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis in various cancer models. More recent research shows that both MTHFD1 and 2 have additional non-enzymatic and metabolism-related functions that are important for epigenetic and DDR processes in cancer cells. Since the expression and functions of MTHFD1/2 proteins are cancer-specific, our MTHFD1/2 inhibitor is causing replication stress and death in cancer cells while sparing normal cells.

Learn more in the scientific references…

One-carbon metabolism

The one-carbon metabolism pathway refers to a network of biochemical reactions that transfer single-carbon units for essential cellular processes. Cancer cells rely heavily on this pathway for nucleotide supply and general regulation of nucleotide pools. Cancer cells are more sensitive to nucleotide pool imbalances than normal cells, and such imbalances also lead to DNA damage.

At One-carbon therapeutics, we take advantage of our deep biological understanding of metabolism and DNA repair processes to develop novel therapeutic approaches targeting both. This is resulting in more efficient, cancer-specific drugs and novel synthetic lethal combination approaches.

Learn more in the scientific references…

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