AXL Inhibitors
3 drugsAbout AXL
AXL is a receptor tyrosine kinase involved in cell survival, proliferation, migration, and immune regulation. Aberrant AXL signaling has been implicated in various diseases, making it a potential target for therapies modulating these processes.
Genetic evidence offers moderate support for AXL as a therapeutic target, with associations to cardiovascular disease (score 0.33), skin disease (0.27), and amenorrhea (0.23). Colocalization analysis reveals 20 strong eQTL/pQTL signals, suggesting a role in gene expression regulation.
AXL is targeted by 3 FDA-approved small molecule drugs: CABOMETYX, COMETRIQ, and RESNIBEN. These drugs are approved for other therapeutic areas, highlighting AXL's involvement in multiple disease pathways.
AXL Genetic Evidence Moderate
Genetic evidence provides moderate support for AXL, with a maximum score of 0.33 for cardiovascular disease.
Further research into the genetic associations of AXL could reveal novel therapeutic opportunities.
Evidence Across Diseases
6 totalGWAS and other genetic studies link AXL to 6 diseases.
🔗 Colocalization Evidence 20 strong
max H4: 1.00eQTL/pQTL signals for AXL colocalize with these GWAS traits, providing causal evidence that gene expression changes drive disease risk.
Understanding these scores
Association Score (0-1): Combines all evidence types (genetic, literature, drugs, animal models). Higher = more evidence linking target to disease. This is a ranking heuristic, not a confidence score.
L2G Score: Open Targets uses a machine learning model (Locus-to-Gene) to predict which gene is causal at each GWAS locus. L2G=0.5 means ~50% probability of being the causal gene. Only associations with L2G > 0.05 are included.
Odds Ratio (OR): From gene burden studies (UK Biobank, AstraZeneca PheWAS). Measures how loss-of-function variants affect disease risk. OR<1 = protective (inhibiting target may help), OR>1 = risk (losing function causes disease).
Beta (β): Effect size for continuous traits. β<0 = protective, β>0 = risk.
Clinical Translation (~1.8x): Based on Nelson et al. 2015: drug targets with genetic evidence have ~2x higher success rates in clinical trials. We estimate: Strong support (score ≥0.7) → ~1.8x, Moderate (0.3-0.7) → ~1.3x, Weak → baseline.
Colocalization (H4): Tests whether a GWAS signal and an eQTL/pQTL signal share the same causal variant. H4 is the posterior probability that both traits are associated AND share a causal variant. H4 > 0.8 = strong evidence that gene expression/protein levels drive disease risk. This links genetic variation → gene expression → disease, supporting the target-disease connection.
Top AXL Drugs
The AXL drug market is concentrated among three companies: EXELIXIS, EXELIXIS INC, and AZURITY.
The limited number of players suggests a relatively low barrier to entry for new AXL-targeting therapies.
AXL Drug Modality Landscape
Modalities
Routes of Administration
AXL is amenable to small molecule drugs, with oral options available for convenient dosing.
Exploring alternative modalities like antibodies or PROTACs could provide a competitive advantage.
AXL Clinical Trials 233 trials
Phase 1-4 trials started in 2008 or later that test an FDA-approved drug acting on AXL. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov. How we count
Completion by Phase
| Phase | Total | Completed | Stopped | Active | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 62 | 26 | 10 | 26 | 72% |
| Phase 2 | 138 | 54 | 21 | 61 | 72% |
| Phase 3 | 28 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 56% |
| Phase 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 100% |
Top Sponsors
By Modality
Top Conditions
Phase 3 Readout Calendar Pro
3 Phase 3 trials testing approved AXL drugs across all sponsors.
Coverage: trials whose intervention is an approved drug targeting AXL. Pre-approval candidates with development codes (e.g. AZD0901, MK-7240) are not yet linked. Anchored on CT.gov primary completion date.
AXL Drug Approval Timeline (2012 - 2016)
The first AXL-targeting drug was approved in 2012, and the most recent in 2016.
The relatively short approval span suggests the AXL target space is still evolving and not yet saturated.
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Deep insights for drug target analysis
Competitive Landscape
- • 2 companies competing
- • Market share by company
Full Drug Portfolio
- • All 3 approved drugs
- • Approval dates & indications
Genetic Validation
- • Full genetic evidence table
- • Effect sizes & directions
Approval Timeline
- • Full 3-drug timeline
- • First-of-modality markers
Clinical Trials Analysis
- • Sponsors: 106 (18 companies)
- • Completion rates by condition
Full summary • All drugs • Genetic evidence • Trials • Timeline
How We Count Trials
- Trials: phase 1-4 interventional trials on ClinicalTrials.gov that started in 2008 or later and test an FDA-approved drug acting on AXL. A trial counts if an approved drug acting on AXL is in any arm, including as a comparator, and a trial that tests two such drugs counts once. Trials that test only unapproved drugs are not counted. A trial listed as phase 1/2 counts as phase 1, and phase 2/3 as phase 2.
- Active: recruiting, not yet recruiting, enrolling by invitation, or active and no longer recruiting.
- Completion rate: of the trials that have ended, the share marked Completed rather than Terminated or Withdrawn. Completed means the trial ended as planned; it does not mean the drug worked. Suspended trials are not counted as ended.
- Stopped: terminated or withdrawn. Trials stop for many reasons, including slow enrolment and business decisions, not only safety or efficacy.
- Sponsors: the lead sponsor of each trial. Companies are the sponsors ClinicalTrials.gov classes as industry; the rest are universities, hospitals, cooperative groups, government bodies and individuals.