South Korea based JW Pharmaceuticals recently presented phase 1a/1b clinical trial results for CWP291, a target anticancer treatment that uses Wnt signaling pathway, at the American Society of Hematology.

The company launched phase 1a clinical trials for CWP291 on 11 patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma in the U.S. and Korea in 2015 while launching phase 1b clinical trials that use CWP291 in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone on eight patients last year.

CWP291 is a first-in-class target anticancer drug that inhibits the growth of cancer cells and the mechanism of Wnt/b-catenin, a signaling substance involved in cancer stem cells.

The drug also has important biomarkers, such as increasing C/EBP homologous proteins which is a major factor of apoptosis of cancer cells.

As a result, 45 percent of the patients maintained a stable disease state with no progression in phase 1a trials, while 63 percent of phase 1b trial patients saw a decrease in M-protein, an abnormal protein produced from the malignant plasma cells, from their serum and urine.

JW Pharmaceuticals expects CWP291 to become a new treatment that will replace standard therapies, as it confirmed efficacy in treating patients who have failed treatment.

The company plans to increase the value of CWP291 as a global new drug by securing additional data on efficacy while increasing its dosage in various stages.