Paolo Strati, Dominik Chraniuk, Eva González Barca, Sairah Ahmed, Caly Chien, Dawn Bongiovanni, Shivani Nanda, William Schelman
Relapsed or refractory lymphoma carries poor prognosis, with limited options after standard therapies. Spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) mediates B-cell receptor and aberrant T-cell receptor signaling, promoting survival and proliferation. HMPL-523 (sovleplenib) is a novel, selective oral SYK inhibitor with preclinical activity in lymphoid malignancies. This Phase 1, open-label, multicenter study (NCT03779113) enrolled adult patients with relapsed/refractory lymphoma who had exhausted approved therapies. The trial included dose escalation (100-800 mg once daily) and expansion (700 mg once daily) stages across multiple lymphoma subtypes. Safety was assessed per NCI CTCAE v5.0; efficacy per Lugano 2014 and disease-specific criteria. Sixty-nine patients were treated (Stage 1: n=21; Stage 2: n=48). The recommended Phase 2 dose was 700 mg once daily; the maximum tolerated dose was not reached. Common grade ≥3 treatment-emergent adverse events included neutropenia, elevated liver enzymes, and thrombocytopenia; no treatment-related deaths occurred. Among 53 response-evaluable patients across stage 1 and stage 2 who were treated at the recommended Phase 2 dose or above, overall response rate (ORR) was 30.2%, including 5 complete responses. ORR by key cohort was 25.9% for Hodgkin lymphoma (n=27), 28.6% for chronic lymphocytic leukemia post-Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor (n=7), and 33.3% for peripheral T-cell lymphoma (n=9), with a median duration of response ranging from 5.7 to 11.3 months. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed dose-proportional exposure and ~2-fold accumulation with daily dosing. Sovleplenib demonstrated a safety profile managed with supportive medications, predictable pharmacokinetics, and preliminary antitumor activity in heavily pretreated lymphoma patients, supporting further investigation in combination and earlier-line settings. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03779113.