Artiva Biotherapeutics Appoints Dr. Thorsten Graef as Chief Medical Officer

On June 6, 2022 Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc., an oncology company whose mission is to deliver highly effective, off-the-shelf allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell therapies that are safe and accessible to cancer patients, reported the appointment of Thorsten Graef, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer (Press release, Artiva Biotherapeutics, JUN 6, 2022, View Source [SID1234615617]). As a highly respected drug development leader, Dr. Graef brings to Artiva more than a decade of experience building and managing clinical development organizations, global multidisciplinary groups and cross-functional teams.

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"I am delighted to welcome Thorsten to our team. He brings substantive expertise to Artiva, including having led the development of IMBRUVICA through its registration in a number of indications, coupled with his recent experiences in the NK cell therapy space," stated Fred Aslan, MD, CEO of Artiva. "He joins Artiva as we transition from being a company with a single clinical trial to one with potentially multiple trials in both hematopoietic and solid tumor indications where we hope to demonstrate the clinical impact of allogeneic, off-the-shelf, NK cell therapies."

"I was impressed by Artiva’s Manufacturing-First approach and pragmatic development program choices," stated Dr. Graef. "NK cell therapies are making good clinical progress, but to achieve registration and commercial success, therapies will also need to be truly off-the-shelf and cost-effective with a scalable process in place. This is where I believe Artiva’s investments in manufacturing can strengthen and accelerate our development plans."

Most recently, Dr. Graef served as Chief Medical Officer at Acepodia USA, with responsibility for all of the company’s research and clinical development activities. Prior to his role at Acepodia, he served as Vice President of Oncology Early Development at AbbVie Inc., overseeing clinical activities, including the development and regulatory preparations of 20+ clinical assets. In addition, he held a series of senior leadership roles, including Head of Global Clinical Development, at Pharmacyclics LLC before and after AbbVie Inc.’s acquisition of the company in May of 2015, where he led the development of IMBRUVICA (ibrutinib). Prior to Pharmacyclics, Dr. Graef served as medical director of Merck Research Lab, Oncology at Merck & Co., Inc.

Prior to his time in the life sciences industry, Dr. Graef was an attending physician in the hematology, oncology, and immunology department at the University Hospital of Düsseldorf in Germany. He received his M.D. in internal medicine and his Ph.D. in molecular medicines from Heinrich-Heine University Medical School in Düsseldorf and completed his postdoctoral research fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Graef has published more than 50 original peer-reviewed publications, including many in top journals, such as NEJM, Lancet, Blood, PNAS, and Journal of Experimental Medicine.

ImmunityBio Announces QUILT Trial Results for BCG-Unresponsive Bladder Cancer and Advanced Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting

On June 6, 2022 ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBRX), a leading clinical-stage immunotherapy company, reported new positive data from the company’s pivotal Phase 2/3 trial for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) carcinoma in situ (QUILT 3032) and Phase 2 trial in advanced pancreatic cancer (QUILT 88) (Press release, ImmunityBio, JUN 6, 2022, View Source [SID1234615616]). The results, which were presented during the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, demonstrate the strong and diverse growth of ImmunityBio’s immunotherapy platform that includes an IL-15 superagonist (N-803), adenovirus vaccine platform, and engineered off-the-shelf natural killer (NK) cell therapy. Together with the company’s self-amplifying RNA and yeast platforms, and Toll receptor activators, along with clinical progress across a range of highly challenging cancer types and commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities, ImmunityBio believes that it is well positioned to change the paradigm of care in cancer and infectious disease.

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"The theme at this year’s ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) conference finally is about combination therapy and immunotherapy. We have been focused on this approach for the past decade and the trial results we presented at this year’s ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) conference are validation that the approach of harnessing the patient’s immune system with a combination of NK and T-cell activation has clinical benefit," said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., Executive Chairman and Global Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at ImmunityBio. "We have, at risk, made the investments to build GMP commercial-scale manufacturing for our platforms and are now positioned to launch QUILT trials in earlier first-line, neoadjuvant and even preventative settings."

The data demonstrate a potential new option for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer patients who were treated with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) plus N-803 (Anktiva) and the doubling of historic overall survival rates in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who were treated with the Nant Cancer Vaccine, N-803 (Anktiva, IL-15 cytokine fusion protein), and off-the-shelf PDL1-targeted high-affinity NK cell (PDL1 t-haNK) infusion.

"Collectively, bladder cancer and pancreatic cancer claim more than half a million lives globally each year, with many patients failing to respond to the current standards of care," said Sandeep Bobby Reddy, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at ImmunityBio. "In dozens of studies, we have shown that N-803 proliferates NK and T cells and thus serves as an enhancing secondary boost, augmenting the immunological response when given in combination with BCG or a checkpoint inhibitor. This mechanism of action of inducing trained innate immune memory, through the combination of N-803 and a prime, contributes we believe to the compelling results we’re seeing in these important trials."

The study results presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) are summarized below:

QUILT 3032 BCG-unresponsive NMIBC CIS (Cohort A)
In an oral presentation on June 3, 2022, Principal Investigator Karim Chamie, M.D., Associate Professor of Urology at UCLA, presented the final clinical results of pivotal trial of IL-15RαFc superagonist N-803 with BCG in BCG-unresponsive CIS and papillary non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (Abstract #4508).

Link to video presentation on ecancer.org:

View Source

Excellent safety and tolerability profile of N-803 + BCG for CIS

1% treatment-related SAEs
0% immune-related AEs
0% grade 4 and 5 AE
71% Complete remission (CR) rate at anytime
26.6 months median durable complete remission
96% Avoidance of bladder cancer progression at 24 months in responders
91% Avoidance of cystectomy at 24 months in responders
100% Bladder cancer-specific overall survival at 24 months
Favorable & familiar dosing schedule with activity localized to the bladder
QUILT 3.032 is an open-label, three cohort, multicenter Phase 2/3 study of intravesical BCG plus N-803 in patients with BCG-unresponsive high-grade NMIBC (NCT03022825) and was opened in 2017. The primary endpoint for Cohort A of this Phase 2/3 study is incidence of complete response (CR) of CIS at any time. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously granted N-803 Breakthrough Therapy and Fast Track designations when used in combination with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) for the treatment of BCG-unresponsive NMIBC CIS. On May 23, 2022, ImmunityBio announced that it had submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the FDA for N-803 plus BCG for the treatment of BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) carcinoma in situ (CIS) with or without Ta or T1 disease.

QUILT 88 Pancreatic Cancer
The study results were presented on June 4, 2022 by the Principal Investigator Dr. Tara Seery of Hoag Cancer Center in a poster session titled Phase 2 clinical trial of DAMP inducers combined with IL15 superagonist, N-803, and anti–PD-L1 NK cell therapy more than doubles historical overall survival in patients with third- to sixth-line advanced pancreatic cancer (Abstract #4147, Poster #132).

Nant Cancer Vaccine (NCV) more than doubled median OS versus historical OS (Manax ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) GI 2019) of 3 months after >2L
Median overall survival in 3rd line subjects (n=34) was 6.2 months (95% CI: 4.9, 9.8)
Overall survival for ITT population (N=78) of 3rd, 4th and 5th line is 5.8 months (95% CI: 4.0, 6.9)
Treatment-related (TR) SAEs were uncommon (6%), no TR deaths were reported
All treatments were performed as outpatient
Treatment ongoing for 25 patients
"For the first time, we are seeing clinical efficacy of immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer. Lung, Kidney, Head and Neck cancer, melanoma and many other cancers have been successfully treated with immunotherapy, but pancreatic cancer has been left behind in the revolution. Now, with ImmunityBio’s combination immunotherapy there is renewed hope for patients with this dreaded disease," said Dr. Seery. "We are hopeful to be able to present similar results at future ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) conferences in the other cohorts of this trial in which we continue to enroll patients."

QUILT 88 is a Phase 2, randomized, three-cohort, open-label study evaluating the comparative efficacy and overall safety of standard-of-care chemotherapy versus low-dose chemotherapy in combination with PD-L1 t-haNK, N-803, and aldoxorubicin in subjects with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer (NCT04390399). Each treatment setting, as well as each first- and second-line or later maintenance treatment, will be evaluated independently as Cohorts A, B, and C, respectively, with Cohorts A and B having independent experimental and control arms. The study is expected to enroll 328 subjects across all three cohorts (63 of 80 participants are currently enrolled in Cohort C, third-line or greater). The primary objective of Cohorts A and B is progression-free survival (PFS) per RECIST V1.1, and the objective of Cohort C is overall survival (OS). Secondary objectives include initial safety and additional efficacy measures, including overall response rate (ORR), complete response (CR) rate, durability of response (DoR), disease control rate (DCR), and overall survival (OS).

Currently, four trial sites have been activated: Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Orange County, Calif., The Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Medicine in Los Angeles County, Calif., Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which serves patients in the tri-state area (Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota); and Astera Cancer Care, East Brunswick, N.J.

VBI Vaccines Presents Updated Phase 2a Tumor Response and Overall Survival Data for VBI-1901 in Recurrent GBM at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting

On June 6, 2022 VBI Vaccines Inc. (Nasdaq: VBIV) (VBI), a biopharmaceutical company driven by immunology in the pursuit of powerful prevention and treatment of disease, reported that new tumor response and overall survival (OS) data from the ongoing Phase 2a study of VBI-1901, the Company’s cancer vaccine immunotherapeutic candidate, in recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) was presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting on June 5 (Press release, VBI Vaccines, JUN 6, 2022, View Source [SID1234615614]). The expanded Phase 2a data were selected for presentation in both a poster session and a poster discussion session.

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"We continue to be motivated by the data seen in this Phase 2a study of VBI-1901 as we endeavor to provide new treatment options to patients with very few available to them," said David E. Anderson, Ph.D., VBI’s Chief Scientific Officer. "Considering the high mortality rate among GBM patients, particularly in the recurrent setting, median overall survival of approximately 13-15 months seen in our two study arms suggests an additional survival benefit of nearly six months in comparison with historical control data in the recurrent population after treatment with a monotherapy.1 Moreover, the correlation of tumor responses and clinical response benefit observed in tandem is very encouraging. We remain in close discussion with our study investigators and scientific advisors as we move toward the next stages of development in both the recurrent and frontline GBM settings, and look forward to advancing this development program as diligently as possible."

Key results from the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) poster presentation:

Data were collected as of May 9, 2022

VBI-1901 + GM-CSF Study Arm – High Dose Part A + Part B (n=16)

Two (2) partial tumor responses and five (5) stable disease seen across Part A and Part B
18-month overall survival (OS) of 25% (n=4/16)
Median OS (mOS) reached at 12.9 months, comparing favorably to 8-month mOS for standard-of-care1
One patient remains on protocol beyond two years, with a 93% tumor reduction relative to initiation of treatment at the beginning of the study – this reduction has been sustained for over 6 months
VBI-1901 + GSK’s AS01B Adjuvant System2 (n=10)

Five (5) stable disease observed
18-month overall survival (OS) of 40% (n=4/10)
Achieved mOS of 14.6 months, comparing favorably to 8-month mOS for standard-of-care1
With few effective treatment options available for recurrent GBM patients, historical control data have demonstrated OS to be ~60% at 6-months and ~30% at 12-months after treatment with a monotherapy.1

This dataset continues to build upon data first shared at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2021, which resulted in Fast Track Designation granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2021, and then updated at the World Vaccine & Immunotherapy Congress in December 2021.

Next Steps for VBI-1901

Based on the data seen to date in the Phase 1/2a study in recurrent GBM patients, VBI expects to assess VBI-1901 in randomized, controlled clinical studies in both primary and recurrent GBM patients in the next phase of development:

Q3 2022: Expected initiation of next phase of development in recurrent GBM setting, aiming to expand the number of patients in the ongoing Phase 1/2a study and adding a control arm, with the potential for accelerated approval based on tumor response rates and improvement in overall survival
Q4 2022: Evaluation of VBI-1901 in the primary GBM setting expected to initiate as part of the Individualized Screening Trial of Innovative Glioblastoma Therapy (INSIGhT), a Phase 2 adaptive platform trial
To learn more about VBI’s ongoing Phase 1/2a study and the INSIGhT trial, visit clinicaltrials.gov (Respective Identifiers: NCT03382977 and NCT02977780).

About Fast Track Designation

The Fast Track program facilitates the expedited development and review of new drugs or biologics that are intended to: 1) treat serious or life-threatening conditions, and 2) demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs. A therapeutic that receives Fast Track Designation is eligible for some or all of the following: 1) more frequent meetings with FDA to discuss the development plan and data needed to support approval, 2) more frequent written communication from FDA relating to the design of the proposed clinical trials and use of biomarkers, 3) Accelerated Approval and Priority Review, if relevant criteria are met, and 4) Rolling Review, which means the company can submit completed sections of its Biologic License Application (BLA) or New Drug Application (NDA) for review by FDA, instead of waiting until all sections of the application are completed.

Fast Track Designation was granted to VBI-1901, adjuvanted with granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), for the treatment of first-recurrent GBM.

About VBI-1901 and GBM

VBI-1901 is a novel cancer vaccine immunotherapeutic candidate developed using VBI’s enveloped virus-like particle (eVLP) technology to target two highly immunogenic cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigens, gB and pp65. Scientific literature suggests CMV infection is prevalent in multiple solid tumors, including glioblastoma (GBM). GBM is among the most common and aggressive malignant primary brain tumors in humans. In the U.S. alone, 12,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The current standard of care for treating GBM is surgical resection, followed by radiation and chemotherapy. Even with aggressive treatment, GBM progresses rapidly and has a high mortality.

AVEO Oncology Presents Three Posters for Tivozanib at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting

On June 6, 2022 AVEO Oncology (Nasdaq: AVEO), a commercial stage, oncology focused biopharmaceutical company, reported that three posters during the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting highlighting data for tivozanib, the Company’s oral, once-daily next-generation vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) designed to block the VEGF pathway by potently and selectively inhibiting all three VEGF receptors (Press release, AVEO, JUN 6, 2022, View Source [SID1234615613]).

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Michael Bailey, president and chief executive officer of AVEO, stated, "We are pleased to present these three posters at this year’s ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, which we believe further showcase the profile of tivozanib as an effective therapy for relapsed or refractory advanced (R/R) renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. The overall survival (OS) data from TIVO-3 continue to improve with long-term follow up, including a significant 55% reduction in death with the subset of patients with greater than one year progression free survival (PFS). In addition, we’ve highlighted an analysis of a Phase 2 study which shows tivozanib demonstrated promising activity in non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma (nccRCC) patients, a difficult to treat patient population. A third poster presented at the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting showcases our most advanced clinical combination initiative — our ongoing Phase 3 TiNivo-2 clinical trial evaluating tivozanib in combination with nivolumab — which is designed to generate data to support regulatory approval of tivozanib combined with nivolumab in the larger second-line R/R RCC market following prior immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy."

Poster title: "Maturation of overall survival (OS) in TIVO-3 with long-term follow-up." – (Abstract: 4557; Poster: 48)

AVEO presented a poster evaluating OS with extended mean follow-up. As previously announced, at two years following the last patient in the TIVO-3 study, the mean follow-up was 17.9 months (data cutoff was August 2019) and 65% of patients experienced an event, with an OS hazard ratio (HR) of 0.99 (95% CI 0.76–1.29). With subsequent OS analyses and mean follow-up extended to 22.8 months, the data show that 80% of patients ultimately experienced events and the hazard ratio of OS lowered to 0.89 (95% CI 0.70–1.14), trending in favor of tivozanib.

A conditional survival analysis was also performed which looked at OS for patients whose disease was progression free at the 12 month landmark, showing a statistically significant 55% relative reduction in the risk of death with tivozanib over sorafenib in this population (HR 0.45; 95% CI 0.22–0.91). The median OS for those patients achieving 12 month PFS was 48.3 months (tivozanib) as compared to 32.8 months (sorafenib), once again demonstrating the long-term benefit of tivozanib.

Poster title: "Activity of tivozanib in non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma (nccRCC): Subgroup analysis from a phase 2 randomized discontinuation trial." – (Abstract: 4542; Poster: 33)

AVEO presented data from a subgroup analysis of patients with nccRCC who had no prior VEGF targeted treatment in its Phase 2 randomized discontinuation trial evaluating tivozanib. These data showed that the overall response rate (ORR) at 16 weeks in all treated patients with nccRCC was 15.2% by independent radiology review. The best unconfirmed overall response rate (ORR) and confirmed ORR (at any time point) was 31.6% and 21.1%, respectively. The disease control rate was 74%. The median PFS was 6.7 months (204 days). Safety was not analyzed by histology but there were no new safety signals and this was consistent with tivozanib labelling in the intent to treat population.

The analysis concluded that tivozanib demonstrated activity and a favorable safety profile in patients with nccRCC. These data add to the body of evidence supporting VEGFR TKI use in advanced RCC, including in non-clear cell histologies.

Trials in Progress Poster Presentation "TiNivo-2: A phase 3, randomized, controlled, multicenter, open-label study to compare tivozanib in combination with nivolumab to tivozanib monotherapy in subjects with renal cell carcinoma who have progressed following one or two lines of therapy where one line was an immune checkpoint inhibitor." – (Abstract: TPS4605; Poster: 92b)

The Company presented a trial in progress poster for the Phase 3 TiNivo-2 trial, which is evaluating the combination of tivozanib and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s OPDIVO (nivolumab), an antibody directed against programmed death-1 (PD-1), versus tivozanib monotherapy for the treatment of RCC patients progressing following prior immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Subjects will receive tivozanib 1.34 mg orally once daily for 21 consecutive days followed by seven days off, on the monotherapy arm, and tivozanib 0.89 mg at the same schedule in addition to nivolumab 480 mg intravenously every four weeks on the combination arm.

The primary objective of the study is to compare the PFS of tivozanib in combination with nivolumab to monotherapy tivozanib. A sample size of 326 subjects, with 191 events will provide at least 80% power to detect a 50% improvement in PFS as assessed by IRR. Secondary endpoints include assessment of OS, ORR and duration of response, as well as safety and tolerability. Exploratory endpoints are to assess the quality of life and to investigate the pharmacokinetics of tivozanib.

TiNivo-2 opened for enrollment during the third quarter of 2021 and currently expects to complete enrollment in the first half of 2023.

About FOTIVDA (tivozanib)

FOTIVDA (tivozanib) is an oral, next-generation vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). It is a potent, selective inhibitor of VEGFRs 1, 2, and 3 with a long half-life designed to improve efficacy and tolerability. AVEO received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for FOTIVDA on March 10, 2021 for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following two or more prior systemic therapies. FOTIVDA was approved in August 2017 in the European Union and other countries in the territory of its partner EUSA Pharma (UK) Limited for the treatment of adult patients with advanced RCC. FOTIVDA has been shown to significantly reduce regulatory T-cell production in preclinical models.1 FOTIVDA was discovered by Kyowa Kirin.

INDICATIONS

FOTIVDA is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following two or more prior systemic therapies.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Hypertension and Hypertensive Crisis: Control blood pressure prior to initiating FOTIVDA. Monitor for hypertension and treat as needed. For persistent hypertension despite use of anti-hypertensive medications, reduce the FOTIVDA dose.

Cardiac Failure: Monitor for signs or symptoms of cardiac failure throughout treatment with FOTIVDA.

Cardiac Ischemia and Arterial Thromboembolic Events: Closely monitor patients who are at increased risk for these events. Permanently discontinue FOTIVDA for severe arterial thromboembolic events, such as myocardial infarction and stroke.

Venous Thromboembolic Events: Closely monitor patients who are at increased risk for these events. Permanently discontinue FOTIVDA for severe venous thromboembolic events.

Hemorrhagic Events: Closely monitor patients who are at risk for or who have a history of bleeding.

Proteinuria: Monitor throughout treatment with FOTIVDA. For moderate to severe proteinuria, reduce the dose or temporarily interrupt treatment with FOTIVDA.

Thyroid Dysfunction: Monitor before initiation and throughout treatment with FOTIVDA.

Risk of Impaired Wound Healing: Withhold FOTIVDA for at least 24 days before elective surgery. Do not administer for at least 2 weeks following major surgery and adequate wound healing. The safety of resumption of FOTIVDA after resolution of wound healing complications has not been established.

Reversible Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome (RPLS): Discontinue FOTIVDA if signs or symptoms of RPLS occur.

Embryo-Fetal Toxicity: Can cause fetal harm. Advise patients of the potential risk to a fetus and to use effective contraception.

Allergic Reactions to Tartrazine: The 0.89 mg capsule of FOTIVDA contains FD&C Yellow No.5 (tartrazine) which may cause allergic-type reactions (including bronchial asthma) in certain susceptible patients.

ADVERSE REACTIONS
The most common (≥20%) adverse reactions were fatigue, hypertension, diarrhea, decreased appetite, nausea, dysphonia, hypothyroidism, cough, and stomatitis, and the most common Grade 3 or 4 laboratory abnormalities (≥5%) were sodium decreased, lipase increased, and phosphate decreased.

DRUG INTERACTIONS

Strong CYP3A4 Inducers: Avoid coadministration of FOTIVDA with strong CYP3A4 inducers.

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

Lactation: Advise not to breastfeed.
Females and Males of Reproductive Potential: Can impair fertility.
Hepatic Impairment: Adjust dosage in patients with moderate hepatic impairment. Avoid use in patients with severe hepatic impairment.

To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. at 1-833-FOTIVDA (1-833-368-4832) or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.

Please see FOTIVDA Full Prescribing Information which is available at www.FOTIVDA.com.

About Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma

According to the American Cancer Society’s 2021 statistics, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common type of kidney cancer, which is among the ten most common cancers in both men and women. Approximately 73,750 new cases of kidney cancer will be diagnosed annually and about 14,830 people will die from this disease. In patients with late-stage disease, the five-year survival rate is 13%. Agents that target the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway have shown significant antitumor activity in RCC.2 According to a 2019 publication, 50% of the approximately 10,000 patients who progress following two or more lines of therapy choose not to receive further treatment,3 which may be attributable to tolerability concerns and a lack of data to support evidence-based treatment decisions in this highly relapsed or refractory patient population.

Corcept Therapeutics to Start Phase 3 Trial of Relacorilant Plus Nab-Paclitaxel in Patients With Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

On June 6, 2022 Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ: CORT), a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrine, oncologic, metabolic and neurological disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol, reported that, following consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it will start a registrational Phase 3 trial of relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel in patients with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (Press release, Corcept Therapeutics, JUN 6, 2022, https://ir.corcept.com/news-releases/news-release-details/corcept-therapeutics-start-phase-3-trial-relacorilant-plus-nab [SID1234615612]). The company also announced that the positive results from its 178-patient, randomized, controlled, Phase 2 study will be featured in an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting today.

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"We are excited to launch our pivotal Phase 3 trial, which we have named ROSELLA," said Bill Guyer, PharmD, Corcept’s Chief Development Officer. "Simply replicating the positive results of our Phase 2 study – improvements in progression free survival, duration of response and overall survival without increased side effect burden – will be of unprecedented benefit to women with advanced ovarian cancer, for whom relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel has the potential to become a new standard of care."

"The ROSELLA trial design closely tracks the design of our successful Phase 2 study, with adjustments that emerged from constructive conversations with the FDA and leading clinicians from the Gynecological Oncology Group. Based on these conversations, we are confident that positive results in ROSELLA will support a new drug application."

ROSELLA has a planned enrollment of 360 women, randomized 1:1 to receive either relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel monotherapy. The primary endpoint will be progression free survival, with overall survival as a key secondary endpoint.

All patients will have received prior bevacizumab therapy, which is the current standard of care in the United States for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Almost two-thirds of the women enrolled in Corcept’s Phase 2 trial met this criterion. Women with a history of tumors that do not respond at all to initial platinum-based treatments (i.e., women with "primary platinum-refractory" disease) and those who have received more than three prior lines of therapy – both indicators of a very poor prognosis – will be excluded.

Corcept plans to start ROSELLA by the end of this month.

In Corcept’s Phase 2 trial, women who met the entry criteria for ROSELLA and received relacorilant exhibited substantial benefit, without increasing the frequency or severity of adverse events. Results for patients who received relacorilant at the time they received nab-paclitaxel – the "intermittent" dosing regimen that will be used in ROSELLA – are set forth in Table 1.

Phase 2 Trial Results (ROSELLA Patient Population)
Relacorilant +
Nab-paclitaxel
n=25 Comparator
n=31 Hazard Ratio
(95% CI)
Progression-Free Survival
(median) 7.3 months 3.7 months 0.40 (0.21, 0.77); p = 0.005
Duration of Response
(median) 5.6 months 3.1 months 0.29 (0.09, 0.99); p = 0.016
Overall Survival
(median) 17.9 months 12.6 months 0.38 (0.17, 0.82); p = 0.011
Table 1: Results for women in the intermittent and comparator arms of the Phase 2 trial who met the ROSELLA entry criteria.

The Kaplan-Meyer curve showing the survival benefit experienced by women in the Phase 2 trial’s intermittent arm and who met the ROSELLA entry criteria is set forth in Figure 1.

Figure 1

ASCO Oral Presentation

Results from the company’s Phase 2 study in patients with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer will be featured in an oral presentation at the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting today. Presentation slides are available at www.corcept.com/research-pipeline/publications.

Presentation Title: "Overall survival data from a 3-arm, randomized, open-label, phase 2 study of relacorilant, a selective glucocorticoid receptor modulator, combined with nab-paclitaxel in patients with recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer."

Speaker: Dr. Nicoletta Colombo; University of Milan-Bicocca and European Institute of Oncology, IRCCS

Presentation Time / Location: Monday, June 6, 2022, 9:00 AM – 9:12 AM CDT / E450

About Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in women.1 Patients whose disease returns less than six months after receiving platinum-containing therapy are described as having "platinum-resistant" disease. In the United States, approximately 20,000 women with platinum-resistant disease are candidates to start a new therapy each year.2 There are few treatment options and median overall survival following recurrence of disease is 12 months or less with single-agent chemotherapy.3 No approved therapy has been shown to significantly extend overall survival in patients with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer compared to standard chemotherapy.4

About Corcept’s Oncology Programs

There is substantial evidence that cortisol activity at the glucocorticoid receptor ("GR") reduces the efficacy of certain anti-cancer therapies and that modulating cortisol’s activity may help anti-cancer treatments achieve their intended effect.

Many types of solid tumors express the GR and are potential targets for cortisol modulation therapy. In some cancers, cortisol inhibits cellular apoptosis – the tumor-killing effect many treatments are meant to stimulate. In other cancers, cortisol activity promotes tumor growth. Cortisol also suppresses the body’s immune response; activating – not suppressing – the immune system is beneficial in fighting certain cancers.

Corcept is conducting clinical trials of its proprietary selective cortisol modulators in combination with three different anti-cancer treatments in patients with ovarian, adrenal and prostate cancers. Corcept’s first controlled study in oncology – relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer – has demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful results.

About Relacorilant

Relacorilant is a non-steroidal, selective glucocorticoid receptor modulator that does not bind to the body’s other hormone receptors. Corcept is studying relacorilant in a variety of serious disorders, including ovarian and adrenal cancer and Cushing’s syndrome. Relacorilant is proprietary to Corcept and is protected by composition of matter and method of use patents, as well as orphan drug designation in the United States for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and both the United States and the European Union for the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome.