Syros Receives Fast Track Designation from the FDA for Tamibarotene for the Treatment of Higher-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome

Syros Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing new standards of care for the frontline treatment of hematologic malignancies, today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track Designation to tamibarotene for the treatment of higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (HR-MDS). Tamibarotene, an oral first-in-class selective retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) agonist, is currently being evaluated in combination with azacitidine for the treatment of newly diagnosed HR-MDS patients with RARA gene overexpression.

“Receipt of Fast Track designation for tamibarotene underscores both the potential of tamibarotene and the unmet need for HR-MDS patients, who have a poor prognosis due to the progressive nature of the disease,” said David A. Roth, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Syros Pharmaceuticals. “No new therapies beyond hypomethylating agents have been approved since 2006, and approximately half of all patients diagnosed with HR-MDS patients ultimately progress to AML. We are grateful for the opportunity to potentially expedite the delivery of tamibarotene as a new standard of care for this population.”

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.