27 January 2023 - - The United States Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track Designation to tamibarotene for the treatment of higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (HR-MDS), US-based biopharmaceutical company Syros Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYRS) said.

Tamibarotene, an oral first-in-class selective retinoic acid receptor alpha agonist, is currently being evaluated in combination with azacitidine for the treatment of newly diagnosed HR-MDS patients with RARA gene overexpression.

Fast Track is a process designed by the FDA to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drug candidates intended to treat serious conditions and for which nonclinical or clinical data demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical need.

The purpose is to help speed development of new drugs, making them available to the patient earlier.

A therapeutic candidate that receives Fast Track designation may be eligible for more frequent interactions with the FDA to discuss the therapeutic candidate's development plan.

Therapeutic candidates with Fast Track designation may also be eligible for priority review and accelerated approval if supported by clinical data.

Syros is evaluating tamibarotene in combination with azacitidine in newly diagnosed HR-MDS patients with RARA overexpression in the ongoing SELECT MDS-1 Phase 3 trial.

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study is intended to enroll 190 patients. Syros currently has over 75 clinical sites open for recruitment in 12 countries.

Syros expects to complete patient enrollment in SELECT-MDS-1 in the fourth quarter of 2023, with pivotal data expected in the third quarter of 2024.

Syros is also evaluating tamibarotene in combination with venetoclax and azacitidine in newly diagnosed unfit AML patients with RARA overexpression, with initial data from the randomized portion of the SELECT-AML-1 Phase 2 trial expected in the fourth quarter of 2023 and additional data in 2024.

Syros is committed to developing new standards of care for the frontline treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies.

Driven by the motivation to help patients with blood disorders that have largely eluded other targeted approaches, Syros is advancing a robust late-stage clinical pipeline, including tamibarotene, a first-in-class oral selective RARα agonist in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia with RARA gene overexpression, and SY-2101, a novel oral form of arsenic trioxide in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Syros is also seeking partnerships for SY-5609, a highly selective and potent CDK7 inhibitor in clinical development for the treatment of select solid tumors, and multiple preclinical programs in oncology and monogenic diseases.