Lynk Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.’s LNK01004 ointment is a topical, skin-restricted JAK inhibitor intended for the treatment of psoriasis and other related conditions

The first cohort of psoriatic patients have been dosed in a Phase Ib clinical trial of Lynk Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.’s LNK01004.

The trial was designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic characteristics and preliminary efficacy of LNK01004 ointment in Chinese patients with mild to moderate plaque psoriasis.

LNK01004 ointment is a topical, skin-restricted soft pan JAK inhibitor intended for the treatment of psoriasis and other related conditions. The drug is mainly distributed in the skin tissues, but has minimal exposure in the blood system thereby avoiding potential safety issues caused by systemic immune suppression due to systemic exposure. As a representative third-generation JAK inhibitor, LNK01004 has the potential to be a first-in-class treatment.

"The completion of dosing the first cohort of patients with LNK01004 is an important milestone for the development of this compound,” says Dr. Henry Wu, Chief Development Officer of Lynk Pharmaceuticals, in a news release. “LNK01004 has already shown good efficacy and safety in preclinical animal studies. Its phase I trial in healthy subject was completed earlier this year, and the results showed good safety profile. We look forward to LNK01004's good performance in patient trials."

"As a third generation JAK inhibitor, LNK01004 can effectively inhibit psoriasis-related cytokine-induced JAK/STAT signaling pathways in skin tissues by topical application. Additionally, LNK01004 has the advantage of extremely low exposure in the blood system to potentially avoid safety concerns due to systemic exposure,” adds Dr. Zhao-Kui (ZK) Wan, founder & CEO of Lynk Pharmaceuticals," Lynk is committed to develop safer and more efficacious JAK inhibitors. The differentiated products are our core competitive advantages. In addition to the highly selective JAK1 inhibitor LNK01001, we have also assembled a promising pipeline consisting of multiple third-generation, tissue-restricted soft pan JAK inhibitors in clinical trials including the GI-restricted LNK01003 for UC which is currently in Phase IIa. We sincerely look forward to bringing safer, more efficacious and innovative treatment options to patients."