On February 15, 2019 Autolus Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: AUTL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, reported its financial and operational results for the transition period from October 1 to December 31, 2018 (Press release, Autolus, FEB 25, 2019, View Source [SID1234533705]). On December 19, 2018, the board of directors approved a change of fiscal year end from September 30 to December 31. The Company has also filed a report on Form 20-F with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the transition period.

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Key recent 2019 events and 2018 highlights include:

Clinical

In February 2019, Autolus announced updated data from the ongoing Phase 1 CARPALL trial of AUTO1 in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pALL) at the European Hematology Association (EHA) (Free EHA Whitepaper) 1st European CAR T Cell Meeting held in Paris, France. Consistent with the original presentation at the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Atlanta, the emerging safety profile appears to be manageable and differentiated. Notably, none of the patients experienced severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS) (Grade 3-5) and none of the patients required treatment with tociluzumab or steroids. Thirteen patients experienced CRS at Grade 1 or 2. As previously reported, one patient experienced Grade 4 neurotoxicity; there were no other reports of severe neurotoxicity (Grade 3-5). Eleven patients experienced cytopenia that was not resolved by day 28 or recurring after day 28 (Grades 1-4). Two patients developed significant infections, and 1 patient died from sepsis while in molecular complete response (CR). In the trial, AUTO1 combined a high molecular complete response rate (86% after a single dose of AUTO1) with robust persistence at one year follow-up in pediatric acute B cell leukemia patients. The median duration of remission in responding patients was 7.3 months with a median follow-up of 14 months. Event-free survival was 46% with overall survival of 63% at 12 months.

In December 2018, Autolus announced preliminary results from the ongoing Phase 1/2 AMELIA clinical trial of AUTO3 in patients with relapsed/refractory pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pALL) at the 60th ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in San Diego, California. Researchers reported on ten patients with relapsed or refractory pALL who received an

AUTO3 infusion as a single dose or split dose dependent on their tumor burden. It was observed that AUTO3 was generally well-tolerated with no severe CRS and only one case of Grade 3 neurotoxicity observed, which was considered unlikely related to AUTO3 and primarily attributed to prior intrathecal chemotherapy. Eight out of ten patients achieved minimal residual disease-(MRD) negative CR and higher response rates were observed at doses ³3 x 106/kg dose levels with all patients achieving MRD-negative remission. In the higher dose group, four out of six patients had an ongoing molecular CR as of the cutoff date and, importantly, no loss of CD19 or CD22 was noted among the relapsed patients.

At the 60th ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in December 2018, Autolus also announced preliminary results of the ongoing Phase 1/2 ALEXANDER clinical trial of AUTO3 in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The principal investigator reported that AUTO3 followed by consolidation with a limited duration of anti-PD1 therapy appeared to have a manageable safety profile at the doses evaluated. Out of the seven patients evaluable for safety, none developed CRS grade 3 or higher and one patient had Grade 3 neurotoxicity, considered possibly related to AUTO3. No dose limiting toxicities were observed and dose escalation continues. Six patients were evaluable for response; two patients achieved a CR (which was ongoing at six and three months post-treatment, respectively) and two patients had a partial response; two patients did not respond.

In December 2018, Autolus announced an update on its novel CAR T cell program for peripheral T cell lymphoma. The first patient was dosed in the Phase 1/2 LibrA T1 clinical trial of AUTO4, a developmental therapy for the treatment of relapsed or refractory TRBC1-positive peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL). Also, the preclinical data from the sister program AUTO5, targeting TRBC2-positive lymphoma, were presented at the 60th ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.

Autolus will host an R&D Day in New York City on March 26, 2019 for the investment community. This event will provide an update on Autolus’ current clinical programs and highlight the company’s next-generation programed T cell products for hematological and solid tumor indications.

Manufacturing and Product Delivery

In February 2019, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency approved an extension to the GMP license of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult Manufacturing Centre in Stevenage, which, with its innovative operational and licensing model, enables Autolus to manufacture clinical trial supply from this facility.

In January 2019, Autolus announced it has signed a long-term, full-building lease with Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. for the construction and development of an 85,000 square foot build-to-suit facility to be located in the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center in

Rockville, Maryland. The new facility will house offices for Autolus’ U.S.-based research and development, commercial and corporate functions and serve as its first full commercial-scale manufacturing center, with a planned capacity of producing 5,000 T cell therapies annually.

Also in January, Autolus initiated the build-out of a manufacturing facility in Enfield, U.K. The facility is planned to open in 2020 and will provide global supply of viral vector as well as a planned capacity of 1,000 T cell therapies annually.

Autolus is establishing a series of intelligent systems to efficiently manage all aspects of manufacture and certification of supply. Costs will be partly covered through a grant from Innovate UK. To date, Autolus has been awarded Innovate UK grants totaling £6.7 million (approximately $8.6 million).

Corporate Highlights

In December 2018, Autolus announced that it had been selected for addition to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (Nasdaq: NBI) as part of the annual re-ranking.

Autolus strengthened its management and board during 2018. Key company management appointments included Andrew J. Oakley as senior vice president and chief financial officer and Adam Hacker, PhD as senior vice president for regulatory affairs and quality. Key board of directors appointments included Linda Bain, current chief financial officer of Codiak BioSciences, Inc., and Cynthia M. Butitta, former chief operating officer of Kite Pharma.

In June 2018, Autolus completed a U.S. initial public offering of American Depositary Shares, representing a total of 10,147,059 ordinary shares, including full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment, for net proceeds, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses, of $156.5 million.

"In 2019, we expect significant progress that will build on the momentum of last year," stated Dr. Christian Itin, chairman and chief executive officer of Autolus. "Our robust pipeline of clinical and pre-clinical programs is progressing well, and we expect to move two programs into registrational trials and provide updates on all of our active programs at conferences during the course of this year. The next scheduled data presentation will be for AUTO1 in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper)’s Annual Meeting in April."

Financial results for the period from October 1 through December 31, 2018:

As stated above, we are transitioning to reporting our results on a calendar year basis, starting with the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, and as such we are presenting audited results for the three-month period from October 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018, and the comparative period for 2017 discussed below, which is unaudited.

Cash and equivalents at December 31, 2018 totaled $217.5 million, compared with $129.0 million at December 31, 2017, due primarily to the $156.5 million in net proceeds resulting from Autolus’ U.S. initial public offering, which closed in June 2018.

Net total operating expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2018 were $25.0 million, net of grant income of $0.3 million, as compared to net operating expenses of $8.4 million, net of grant income of $0.2 million, for the same period in 2017. The increase in expenses was due, in general, to the increase in clinical trial activity, which is expected to deliver on key milestones in 2019; increased headcount; and the cost of being a public company.

Research and development expenses increased to $17.7 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018 from $5.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2017. Cash costs, which exclude depreciation as well as share-based compensation, increased to $15.2 million from $5.1 million. The increase in research and development cash costs of $10.1 million consisted primarily of an increase of $4.3 million in project expenses related to the activities necessary to prepare, activate, and monitor clinical trial programs, an increase in compensation-related costs of $3.8 million primarily due to an increase in headcount to support the advancement of our product candidates in clinical development, and an increase of $2.0 million in facilities costs and consumables supporting the expansion of our research and translational science capability and investment in manufacturing facilities and equipment.

General and administrative expenses increased to $7.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018 from $3.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2017. Cash costs, which exclude depreciation as well as share-based compensation, increased to $5.7 million from $2.5 million. The increase of $3.2 million consisted primarily of an increase of $2.3 million in insurance, patent costs, commercial costs, investor relations and communication costs and additional facility costs, as well as an increase in compensation-related expense of $0.9 million.

Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was $20.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018, compared to $7.5 million for the same period in 2017.

The basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share for the three months ended December 31, 2018 totaled $(0.52) compared to a basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share of $(0.26) for the three months ended December 31, 2017.

Autolus anticipates that cash on hand provides a runway into calendar year 2021.

Conference Call and Presentation Information

Autolus management will host a conference call today, February 25, at 8:00 a.m. EST/ 1:00pm GMT to discuss the company’s financial results and operational update.

To listen to the webcast and view the accompanying slide presentation, please go to: View Source

The call may also be accessed by dialing 877-270-2148 (U.S.) and 412-902-6510 (international) and asking the operator to join the Autolus Therapeutics conference call. After the conference call, a replay will be available for one week. To access the replay, please dial 877-344-7529 (U.S.) or 412-317-0088 (international) and enter replay access code 10129000.

On February 25, 2019 VBI Vaccines Inc. (Nasdaq: VBIV) (VBI), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation infectious disease and immuno-oncology vaccines, reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and twelve months ended December 31, 2018 (Press release, VBI Vaccines, FEB 25, 2019, View Source [SID1234533674]).

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"2018 was a foundational year, one that laid critical groundwork as we build towards the transformational milestones expected in 2019," said Jeff Baxter, President and CEO, VBI Vaccines Inc. "Our achievements in 2018 – which included the launch of the collaboration with Brii Biosciences to develop a functional cure for Hepatitis B for up to $129 million plus royalties, the closing of a $42.9 million public offering led by Perceptive Advisors, the positive Phase 1 data readout from our cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine candidate, and encouraging early immunogenicity data from the Phase 1/2a of our glioblastoma (GBM) immuno-therapeutic – set the stage for 2019. Heading into this year, VBI is well-positioned to achieve meaningful clinical milestones across all of our lead programs, most notably the top-line data readout from the PROTECT Phase 3 study of Sci-B-Vac expected in four months’ time."

Sci-B-Vac Program Update (Prophylactic Hepatitis B):

In December 2017, the Company initiated enrollment in two pivotal Phase 3 clinical studies – PROTECT and CONSTANT – in a total of approximately 4,500 adults. The studies were designed to assess safety and efficacy of Sci-B-Vac, VBI’s prophylactic hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine that is the only commercially-available trivalent HBV vaccines containing Pre-S1, Pre-S2, and S antigens and adjuvanted with alum.

"Hepatitis B remains a serious public health unmet need, one where enhanced protection through vaccination is vital for long-term control," said Francisco Diaz-Mitoma, M.D., Ph.D., VBI’s Chief Medical Officer. "In the last two decades, Sci-B-Vac has been tested in 22 different clinical trials and has been safely and effectively administered to over 500,000 infants and adults in the commercial setting. We believe the extensive safety and efficacy data we have to-date has largely de-risked the ongoing Phase 3 studies. We look forward to the data readouts later this year, as we work to provide a rapid, potent, and safe hepatitis B vaccine to address this significant unmet infectious disease need."

Upcoming Sci-B-Vac Clinical Data Read-outs:

●Mid-year 2019: PROTECT Phase 3 top-line data

PROTECT is a head-to-head immunogenicity study in approximately 1,600 subjects comparing Sci-B-Vac to Engerix-B.
Primary endpoints include non-inferiority of Sci-B-Vac in adults over age 18, and superiority of Sci-B-Vac in adults over age 45.
Secondary endpoints include non-inferiority of Sci-B-Vac after two vaccinations compared with three vaccinations of Engerix-B, and safety.

●Around year-end 2019: CONSTANT Phase 3 top-line data

CONSTANT is a lot-to-lot consistency study in approximately 2,850 subjects comparing immune responses across three independent, consecutively manufactured lots of Sci-B-Vac.
Secondary endpoints include safety, and efficacy compared with Engerix-B

Other Pipeline Program Updates:

GBM Immuno-therapeutic:

VBI-1901, an immuno-therapy developed using VBI’s proprietary enveloped virus-like particle (eVLP) technology platform, is being assessed in an ongoing phase 1/2a clinical study in recurrent GBM patients. In 2018, VBI completed enrollment in all three dose cohorts in the Part A dose-escalation phase of the study, with six patients enrolled in each cohort. In February 2019, the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) reviewed all safety data from Part A and unanimously recommended the continuation of the study without modification.

"While Part A of the study was primarily designed to assess safety and tolerability of VBI-1901 to support the identification of the optimal therapeutic dose level for Part B of the study, we are encouraged by the early immunogenicity data we’ve observed to-date," said David Anderson, Ph.D., VBI’s Chief Scientific Officer. "Part B of the study will have narrower enrollment criteria and is primarily designed to assess efficacy signals of VBI-1901 in recurrent GBM patients. With a more homogenous patient cohort in Part B, we look forward to identifying potential initial correlations between immunologic responses and clinical outcomes by year-end 2019."

Upon selection of the optimal dose level in Part A, based on safety and immunogenicity data, the Company expects to initiate enrollment of an additional 10 patients in the subsequent Part B extension phase of the study. Expanded immunologic data and 6-month survival data from all dose cohorts in the Part A dose-escalation phase are expected later in the first half of 2019.

Hepatitis B Immuno-therapeutic:

In December 2018, VBI announced a license and collaboration agreement with Brii Biosciences, for up to $129 million plus royalties, for the development of a functional cure for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection using VBI-2601. VBI-2601 is a novel immuno-therapeutic candidate that is uniquely formulated to target B- and T-cell immunity by neutralizing circulation of the hepatitis B virus, blocking hepatitis B infection of hepatocytes through Pre-S1 immunity, and enabling immune-mediated clearance of HBV-infected hepatocytes.

As part of this collaboration, clinical proof of concept studies are expected to be initiated by the end of 2019.

CMV Prophylactic Vaccine:

In May 2018, VBI announced positive top-line data from the Phase 1 study of VBI-1501, the Company’s prophylactic vaccine candidate for CMV. The Phase 1 top-line data showed that VBI-1501 was safe and well-tolerated at all doses and was immunogenic, even at the lower doses tested. In December 2018, VBI announced plans for a formal Phase 2 dose-ranging study to assess safety and immunogenicity of VBI-1501 at higher doses. The highest dose level is expected to be 10-times higher than that tested in the Phase 1 study.

The Company expects to initiate enrollment in the Phase 2 study by the end of 2019, following the requisite toxicology studies.

Financial Results for the Three and Twelve Months Ended December 2018:

○VBI ended the fourth quarter of 2018 with $59.3 million cash and cash equivalents compared with $67.7 million as of December 31, 2017. Net cash used in operating activities for the full year 2018 was $45.5 million, compared to $31.4 million for the same period in 2017. Additionally, the purchase of property and equipment in 2018 was $6.0 million compared with $0.6 million in 2017. This increase was due to the modernization and capacity increase of the Rehovot site, where all clinical and commercial supplies of Sci-B-Vac are manufactured, to enable the supply of commercial quantities of Sci-B-Vac upon marketing authorization approval by the FDA, EMA, and/or Health Canada. As part of this modernization and capacity increase, the site was temporarily shut down as of April 22, 2018. The construction related to the modernization and capacity increase is ongoing, and validation activities are in progress.

○Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $2.7 million, and was primarily attributable to amounts recognized as part the therapeutic Hepatitis B license and collaboration agreement with Brii Biosciences. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2017 was $0.2 million and was primarily attributable to sales of Sci-B-Vac in Israel. Product sales in 2018 were $0.6 million compared with $0.5 million in 2017. The change was due to an increase in product sales related to the Sci-B-Vac named-patient program in Europe, offset by a slight decrease in Sci-B-Vac sales in Hong Kong and Israel.

○Cost of Revenue for the full year 2018 was $4.5 million compared with $5.2 million for the full year 2017. This decrease was due to the Rehovot site shut-down, resulting in limited production activity, reduced maintenance and utilities expenses, and allocation of some overhead to general and administrative expenses.

○Research and development expenses for the fourth quarter and full year 2018 were $10.1 million and $38.5 million, respectively. Research and development expenses for the same periods in 2017 were $6.5 million and $20.9 million, respectively. The increase was driven by the initiation and execution of the two Sci-B-Vac Phase 3 trials and the GBM Phase 1/2a clinical trial, which are currently ongoing.

○General and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter and full year 2018 were $9.9 million and $20.8 million, respectively. General and administrative expenses for the same periods in 2017 were $3.4 million and $12.0 million, respectively. The increase was primarily attributable to a $6 million payment made in December 2018 to re-obtain a distribution agreement with a third party who previously held certain distribution rights to certain Asian markets.

○Net loss and net loss per share for the year-end 2018 were $63.6 million and $0.97, respectively, compared to a net loss of $39.0 million and a net loss per share of $0.88 for the year-end 2017

On February 25, 2019 Exicure, Inc. (OTCQB: XCUR), a pioneer in gene regulatory and immunotherapeutic drugs utilizing spherical nucleic acid (SNA) constructs, reported that it has dosed the first patient in its multicenter, open-label, Phase 1b/2 study of AST-008 combined with pembrolizumab (Press release, Exicure, FEB 25, 2019, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2388720 [SID1234533672]). Enrollment in the trial is open to patients with superficial injectable tumors in advanced or metastatic solid tumor conditions including Merkel cell carcinoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. clinicaltrials.gov NCT03684785

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"We believe that combining our immune system agonist drug with checkpoint inhibitors is an important strategy for leveraging the patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. We are excited to bring this approach into cancers like Merkel cell carcinoma, where patients have limited success using currently available treatments," said Exicure CEO Dr. David Giljohann. "It is also an important milestone for Exicure in the development of our platform technology, which allows us to digitally design drug candidates and potentially bring them into clinic faster."

The primary objective of the Phase 1b dose escalation stage is to assess the safety and tolerability of Exicure’s AST-008 drug alone and in combination with pembrolizumab, and to determine a dose for the Phase 2 stage of the study. Patients in the dose escalation stage may have previously been exposed to antibody checkpoint inhibitors, but not as a requirement for inclusion in the trial. In the Phase 2 portion of the study, Exicure will further evaluate AST-008 in combination with pembrolizumab in patients who have previously received but not responded to anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 antibody therapy.

About Exicure’s AST-008 Drug

AST-008 is a toll-like receptor nine (TLR9) agonist oligonucleotide in a proprietary SNA format with immune-stimulatory properties. SNAs are dense, radial arrangements of nucleic acids (DNA) that have high cellular uptake and an enhanced presentation of the DNA for TLR9 agonism. AST-008 is designed to enter into and activate immune cells to elicit an immune response to treat solid tumors in combination with other agents such as checkpoint inhibitors. We observed that AST-008 showed potent antitumor activity as a monotherapy and synergized with anti-PD-1 antibodies in multiple preclinical tumor models. In a successful Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers, AST-008 activated key immune cells and cytokines predictive for an anti-tumor effect in patients.

On February 25, 2019 Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel products for serious rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases, reported that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of up to $250,000,000 of shares of its common stock (Press release, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, FEB 25, 2019, View Source [SID1234533671]). In addition, the company is expected to grant the underwriters of the offering an option for a period of 30 days to purchase up to an additional $37,500,000 of shares of common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount.

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The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, BofA Merrill Lynch and Cowen are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and became automatically effective on February 21, 2018. This offering is being made solely by means of prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. When available, copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus related to the offering may be obtained from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, by telephone at 866-803-9204, or by email at [email protected]; Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526, facsimile: 212-902-9316 or by emailing [email protected]; BofA Merrill Lynch, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, Attention: Prospectus Department, or by email at [email protected]; and Cowen, c/o Broadridge Financial Services, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY, 11717, United States, Attn.: Prospectus Department or by telephone 1-631-274-2806.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

On February 25, 2019 EORTC reported that resulted phase II 62043 and phase III 62072 published in Clinical Cancer Research, showed that in patients with soft tissue sarcoma, the concomitant use of gastric acid suppressant (GAS) therapy and the anticancer therapeutic pazopanib was associated with significantly reduced progression-free survival and overall survival.

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It is estimated that up to 50 percent of those undergoing cancer treatment utilize Gastric Acid Suppressant (GAS) therapy. Common GAS drugs include proton pump inhibitors, such as omeprazole and esomeprazole magnesium, or histamine H2-receptor blockers, such as ranitidine.

The absorption of pazopanib, a multi-kinase inhibitor used in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and soft tissue sarcoma, is pH-dependent, noted Mir. "We know that pazopanib tablets taken orally need to go into an acidic environment, namely the stomach, in order to dissolve," he explained. "As the primary function of GAS therapy is to reduce the acidity in the stomach, these drugs can reduce the absorption of pazopanib," Mir continued.

Previous work has shown that GAS therapy reduced the absorption of pazopanib as measured in plasma in patients with solid tumors, noted Mir. "We wanted to determine if the use of GAS drugs had an effect on survival outcomes in sarcoma patients taking pazopanib," he said.

Mir and colleagues analyzed data from the completed EORTC phase II 62043 and phase III 62072 clinical trials of patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma treated with pazopanib. The researchers first compared the outcome of patients treated with pazopanib with or without gastric acid suppressive agents for ≥ 80% of treatment duration, and subsequently using various thresholds. 333 patients treated with pazopanib were eligible for analysis; of these, 117 (35.1 percent) received GAS drugs at least once during pazopanib treatment, 59 (17.7 percent) utilized GAS therapy concomitantly for more than 80 percent of pazopanib treatment duration, and 19 (5.7 percent) were already utilizing GAS drugs at the time of trial registration.

Following multivariable analysis, compared to patients who did not use GAS therapy during pazopanib treatment, those who concomitantly utilized GAS for at least 80 percent of treatment duration had significantly reduced progression-free survival (median of 4.6 months compared to 2.8 months, respectively). Concomitant use of GAS also significantly reduced overall survival; those who utilized GAS therapy for at least 80 percent of treatment duration had shorter median overall survival (8 months) compared to those who did not use GAS therapy (12.6 months).

Among the 110 placebo-treated patients from the phase III trial who were eligible for analysis, there were no associations between concomitant GAS use and progression-free survival or overall survival. "This suggests that the drug-drug interaction between GAS and pazopanib directly affected the survival outcomes of sarcoma patients," Mir said.

Mir and colleagues also found that GAS therapy did not reduce the frequency of pazopanib-related toxicities. "I think that our results are practice-changing, and I would discourage oncologists against prescribing gastric acid suppressants when patients are treated with pazopanib, unless it is the only option for the patient," Mir said.

"Patients often utilize GAS therapy for abdominal pain, which is not always related to stomach acidity," said Mir. "I would predict that the majority of patients taking GAS drugs could utilize a different therapy to aid in their abdominal discomfort. Moreover, it is important for patients to inform their oncologists of all the medications that they are taking during cancer so that potential drug-drug interactions can be identified and avoided."

Limitations of this research include its retrospective nature. The analysis was based on the reported use of GAS therapy in the course of the trial, a relatively small sample size and a lack of pharmacokinetic data, which are not routinely collected in late-phase trials.

This study was sponsored by Fonds Cancer (FOCA) from Belgium.