Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RXRX) shares jumped Monday after the biotech company delivered some genuinely interesting clinical trial results. And by interesting, we mean the kind that could actually matter for patients with few other options.
What's Happening: Recursion announced positive Phase 1b/2 data from its ongoing TUPELO trial of REC-4881, an allosteric MEK1/2 inhibitor being developed for familial adenomatous polyposis, or FAP. If you're unfamiliar, FAP is a genetic disorder that causes precancerous polyps to sprout throughout the colon and rectum. Left untreated, there's nearly a 100% chance of developing colorectal cancer before age 40. Not great odds.
Here's the problem: there are currently no approved drug therapies for FAP. The standard approach involves surgeries to remove polyps and, in severe cases, entire polyp-burdened organs. So when a drug shows meaningful results, people pay attention.
REC-4881 demonstrated a 43% median reduction in polyp burden among evaluable patients after just 12 weeks of treatment. Even better, the effects stuck around. By week 25, after dosing had ended, 83% of evaluable patients maintained those reductions. That's the kind of durability that gets researchers excited.
The AI Angle: Recursion says REC-4881 was identified by its AI system after screening thousands of compounds. The drug was originally evaluated for solid tumors but is now the first MEK1/2 inhibitor of its kind being studied clinically for FAP.
"These Phase 2 results mark a meaningful validation of the Recursion OS," said Chris Gibson, CEO of Recursion. "An unbiased phenotypic insight from our platform and driven by AI—linking MEK1/2 inhibition to APC loss-of-function biology—has now translated into rapid, substantial, and durable reductions in polyp burden in patients."
Stock Movement: Shares of Recursion were up 1.91%, trading at $4.81 at the time of publication Monday.