Ventyx Biosciences announced the dosing of the first subject in a Phase 1 clinical trial of VTX-958, a novel and selective allosteric TYK2 inhibitor. In non-clinical studies, VTX-958 has shown potential to treat autoimmune diseases by modulating cytokines involved in both innate and adaptive immunity.

"VTX-958 has the potential to address a wide array of autoimmune diseases linked to TYK2 signaling and we are pleased to commence our first-in-human study," said Raju Mohan, PhD, chief executive officer of Ventyx. "This milestone is the culmination of two years of drug discovery efforts on TYK2 inhibitors, laying the groundwork for our other immunology programs and the future expansion of our pipeline."

The first part of the Phase1 trial will assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of VTX-958 in healthy volunteers, including measures of its pharmacodynamic and immuno-modulatory activity. Ventyx intends to investigate VTX-958 in a broad range of autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease.

"Our selective TYK2 inhibitor, VTX-958, targets both Type I interferon responses and the IL-12/23 pathways while maintaining important anti-inflammatory functions of cytokines typically inhibited by JAK inhibitors," said John Nuss, PhD, chief scientific officer of Ventyx. "We believe this enables VTX-958 to be at the forefront of a new generation of immunomodulators that have improved efficacy and safety for patients afflicted with a variety of autoimmune disorders."

VTX-958 is a highly selective and potent allosteric inhibitor of TYK2 displaying an excellent preclinical safety profile with a broad therapeutic window. VTX-958 has an improved selectivity profile over TYK2 drugs in development. Efficacy in multiple indications, including psoriasis and Crohn's disease, is projected to be on par with marketed biologics without liabilities of the JAK class.