Ascentage Pharma and AstraZeneca Enter into Clinical Collaboration on the Registrational Ph 3 Study of Lisaftoclax + Acalabrutinib in 1L CLL/SLL Patients

Dr. Yifan Zhai, Chief Medical Officer of Ascentage Pharma, said, “Combining Bcl-2 inhibitors and BTK inhibitors as a therapeutic approach has long attracted interest from both the research community and the industry. The Bcl-2 inhibitor lisaftoclax is a key drug candidate in Ascentage Pharma’s apoptosis-targeted pipeline. Results from the global Phase II study of lisaftoclax combined with acalabrutinib show that the combination regimen holds the promise as a patient-centric treatment strategy with enormous therapeutic potential. The clinical management of CLL/SLL overseas has already entered an era that is free of chemotherapies, and patients in China also desperately need a safer and more effective Bcl-2 inhibitor that can be combined with BTK inhibitors. Fulfilling our mission of addressing unmet clinical needs in China and around the world, we will work closely with AstraZeneca to actively advance this clinical development program of lisaftoclax and try to bring the drug to market as soon as possible for the benefit of more patients.”