Ascentage Pharma Announces Clinical Data of Lisaftoclax, Which Shows Therapeutic Potential in Venetoclax-Refractory Patients, Selected for Oral Report at ASCO 2025

ROCKVILLE, Md. and SUZHOU, China, May 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascentage Pharma (NASDAQ: AAPG; HKEX: 6855), a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to addressing unmet medical needs in cancers, today announced that new clinical data from two ongoing investigational studies evaluating lisaftoclax in various blood cancers and alrizomadlin in solid tumors will be presented during an oral presentation and poster presentation, respectively, at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, taking place May 30 - June 3 in Chicago, Ill., USA. Both lisaftoclax and alrizomadlin demonstrated antitumor activity, and the data support their further clinical development.

The Bcl-2 inhibitor lisaftoclax and the MDM2-p53 inhibitor alrizomadlin are both key drug candidates in Ascentage Pharma’s apoptosis-targeted pipeline. The oral report on lisaftoclax will feature results from a Phase 1b/2 study evaluating lisaftoclax in combination with azacitidine in patients with treatment-naïve (TN) or prior venetoclax-exposed myeloid malignancies. Data from this global, multicenter study that has enrolled nearly one hundred patients show that lisaftoclax in combination with azacitidine was well tolerated with preliminary efficacy. Moreover, this study released the first dataset of lisaftoclax in patients with venetoclax-refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and it also demonstrated promising therapeutic potential.

Dr. Yifan Zhai, Chief Medical Officer of Ascentage Pharma, commented: “We are pleased that results from the ongoing Phase 1b/2 study of lisaftoclax will be featured in an oral presentation at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, which will highlight how lisaftoclax demonstrated significant activity when combined with azacitidine in patients with various myeloid malignancies. This novel Bcl-2 inhibitor has shown antitumor activity in both previously untreated patients and those who were treated with venetoclax, addressing a critical treatment gap for these difficult-to-treat conditions. The recent new drug application submission for lisaftoclax in China was a milestone for our program, and, if approved, lisaftoclax would become the second Bcl-2 inhibitor to be approved anywhere in the world. We are grateful to the patients who participated in these trials and the investigators for sharing our commitment to developing innovative therapies that can make a meaningful difference for patients with cancer who have limited options.”