MindRank Announces FDA IND Approval for First-in-Class Oral WEE1/YES1 Dual Inhibitor MRANK-106 in Solid Tumors
MindRank
AI Drug Developer
On March 10, 2025, MindRank, a company focused on using AI-driven drug discovery, announced that its self-developedMindRank's Potential First-in-Class WEE1/YES1 Dual Inhibitor MRANK-106 Officially Receives FDA IND ApprovalApproval to conduct clinical research for multiple solid tumor indications.
MRANK-106 is an orally available dual WEE1/YES1 kinase inhibitor that primarily accumulates in solid tumor-related tissues and tumors rather than in plasma.With extremely high tissue/tumor targeting, it is expected to reduce the hematological high toxicity of WEE1-related selective inhibitors and is particularly suitable for the treatment of solid tumors.Preclinical DisplayIn animal models of pancreatic cancer, small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and ovarian cancer, the single-agent efficacy was significantly superior to clinically researched selective WEE1 inhibitors and demonstrated enhanced synergistic effects in combination therapy.The drug was screened and discovered based on MindRank's self-developed knowledge graph platform PharmKG™, and optimized molecular design using the AI-driven Molecule Pro™ platform. This first-in-class candidate drug molecule was efficiently identified through close collaboration between the biology team and the medicinal chemistry team.
MindRank Founder & CEO Zhangming Niu stated: "MRANK-106 is the second potential self-developed drug by the company to enter clinical stages within three years, further validating the top-tier capabilities and scalability of our self-developed AI drug discovery platform, Molecule Pro™. The team will continue to generate fundamental innovations and breakthrough technologies in AI pharmaceuticals, consistently delivering candidate drugs with both differentiation and high clinical value, enabling more lives to regain health."
The approval of MRANK-106's IND marks "MindRank"Following the successful advancement of the GLP-1RA small molecule oral drug MDR-001 into Phase IIb clinical trials, another AI-assisted designed drug has entered the clinical development stage.This is also the company's first First-in-Class candidate drug to enter clinical trials. The Phase I clinical trial, planned to be launched in 2025, will evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic profile, and preliminary anti-tumor activity of MRANK-106 in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors.
About MRANK-106
MRANK-106 is an orally available WEE1/YES1 dual kinase inhibitor with a novel structure, co-designed by MindRank using its self-developed one-stop AI drug discovery platform.
Unlike traditional single-target DNA damage repair inhibitors, MRANK-106 overcomes the limitations of existing DNA damage repair targeted therapies by synergistically inhibiting two key proteins, WEE1 and YES1. Preclinical studies have shown that MRANK-106 demonstrates potent anti-tumor activity in multiple cancer animal models, including pancreatic cancer, small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. Its excellent preclinical efficacy and safety make it a potential first-in-class and best-in-class drug.
About PharmKG™ and Molecule Pro™
PharmKG™ is an AI-based knowledge graph platform in the pharmaceutical field. Leveraging large language model (LLM) technology, it builds a knowledge network through graph databases and natural language processing techniques, performing automated data cleaning and multi-dimensional information extraction on massive datasets to assist in drug discovery, target prediction, and mechanism research. In 2023, PharmKG™ series technologies were selected as part of the Dynamic Resilience initiative, led by the globally renowned institutions Wellcome Leap and Temasek Trust, as the only company from China, to advance the R&D of AI + anti-aging therapies.
Molecule Pro™ is a molecule design and optimization platform based on deep learning and generative AI. As MindRank Ltd.'s self-developed, one-stop drug discovery platform, it integrates multiple proprietary artificial intelligence models that cover key aspects of preclinical drug research and development, such as compound design, screening and optimization, novelty, synthetic feasibility, drug-likeness, and toxicity prediction. It is particularly adept at solving "multi-objective optimization problems" in drug development. The platform has demonstrated strong versatility and scalability in challenging drug target projects (e.g., GPCR agonists, allosteric inhibitors, protein degraders, multi-target oral small-molecule inhibitors), effectively accelerating drug pipeline research and development. Collaborations have been established with several well-known companies in the industry.
MindRank's Self-Developed One-Stop AI Pharmaceutical Platform
About MindRank
MindRank is a clinical-stage AI-driven innovative drug discovery company. The company's vision is to continuously deliver differentiated and high-clinical-value drug candidates by promoting the integration of various cutting-edge technologies in artificial intelligence and new drug development, thereby making more diseases treatable and restoring health to more lives.
The company owns a self-developed, internationally leading industrial-grade one-stop AI-driven innovative drug R&D platform, including the knowledge graph-based data mining platform PharmKG™, the protein dynamic simulation and structure prediction platform Molecule Dance™, and the one-stop AI drug design platform Molecule Pro™. The company’s AI pharmaceutical solutions were rated by the authoritative European and American institution Deep Pharma Intelligence as one of the "11 most important AI drug R&D breakthrough achievements globally from 2018 to 2020." In 2023, it was included in Forbes' "Forbes Asia 100 to Watch" list, with only 11 startups from mainland China making the list. In 2024, it was selected for Fortune magazine's IMPACT Enterprise List as one of "China's most socially influential entrepreneurial companies."
Related Reading:
MindRank Selected as One of the Top 100 Companies to Watch in the 2023 Forbes Asia-Pacific Region
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