On January 10, 2018 Polaris Group reported that the combination of its lead therapeutic ADI‑PEG 20 (pegylated arginine deiminase) with the standard first-line chemotherapy cisplatin + pemetrexed doublet (PemCis) has shown promising clinical activity in an ongoing phase 1 study cohort of non-squamous non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients (Press release, Polaris Pharmaceuticals, JAN 10, 2018, View Source [SID1234526281]). The results will be presented by Dr. Peter Szlosarek from Barts Cancer Institute, London, at the fifth AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-IASLC International Joint Conference in San Diego.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Twenty-one chemo-naïve NSCLC patients were enrolled in the single-arm, open label study to assess the safety and preliminary activity of ADI+PemCis. The treatment was well tolerated, and demonstrated robust tumor responses. Ten patients (47.6%) had a partial response, and 8 patients (38.1%) had stable disease for a disease control rate of 85.7%.
"We are excited to see that ADI+ PemCis demonstrated robust anti-tumor activity in the chemo-naïve NSCLC patients," said John Bomalaski, M.D., Executive Vice President, Medical Affairs at Polaris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "There have been many exciting developments for NSCLC treatment in the past few years, especially in the area of immunooncology. We are planning new clinical studies that would combine ADI‑PEG 20 with standard chemotherapy as well as immunooncology therapy to maximize treatment effect for cancer patients."
About ADI-PEG 20
ADI‑PEG 20 is a biologic being developed by Polaris Group to treat cancers carrying a major metabolic defect that renders them unable to internally synthesize arginine. Because arginine is essential for protein synthesis and survival of cells, these cancer cells become dependent upon the external supply of arginine to survive and grow. ADI‑PEG 20 is designed to deplete the external supply of arginine, causing arginine-dependent cancer cells to die while leaving the patient’s normal cells unharmed. Multiple cancers have been reported to have a high degree of arginine-dependency and can potentially be treated with ADI‑PEG 20.