On November 11, 2022 Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CADL), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel viral immunotherapies, reported presentation of late-breaking data from a phase 1 mechanistic clinical trial of CAN-2409, Candel’s lead viral immunotherapy in development, in combination with nivolumab and standard of care treatment in patients with high-grade glioma (Press release, Candel Therapeutics, NOV 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234623880]). Data were presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) today in Boston.
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!
In the trial involving 35 evaluable patients, extensive biomarker analyses demonstrated that the combination of CAN-2409 and nivolumab resulted in a statistically significant expansion of activated tumor-fighting CD4+ and CD8+ T cells effector cells as well as decreased markers of exhaustion on effector cells. Proteomic analysis by OLINK revealed an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interferon-gamma, the chemokines CXCL9/10 and CXCL11, MCP-1, MCP-3, and granzyme A. Systemic immune activation was observed after the single administration of CAN-2409, prior to initiation of nivolumab (week 3 post treatment). Median overall survival (mOS) for patients with methylated MGMT promoter was 30.6 months for those who underwent gross total resection (GTR) (n=10) and 12.6 months for those who underwent sub-total resection (STR) (n=5). mOS for patients with unmethylated MGMT was 13.2 months (GTR) (n=16) and 15.9 months (STR) (n=4), respectively.
"We are encouraged to see strong systemic immune activation after a single administration of CAN-2409 to the resection bed during neurosurgical removal of the tumor combined with nivolumab treatment in one of the most treatment-resistant cancers, high-grade glioma, which is characterized by a highly immunosuppressive microenvironment," said Paul Peter Tak, MD, PhD, FMedSci, President and Chief Executive Officer of Candel Therapeutics. "The data support the potential therapeutic synergies between CAN-2409 in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors across various solid tumors."
Details on the oral presentation at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) are as follows:
Oral Presentation Title: First efficacy and multi-omic analysis data from phase 1 clinical trial of oncolytic viral immunotherapy with CAN-2409 + valacyclovir in combination with nivolumab and standard of care in newly diagnosed high-grade glioma
Presenter: Patrick Y. Wen, MD, Director, Cancer for Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Professor, Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Principal Investigator for Candel Therapeutics
Abstract Session: Late-Breaking 204
Session Date and Time: Friday, November 11, 2022, at 11:25 am ET
Location: Hall B2, Omni Boston Hotel, Boston, MA or Virtual
For more information on the clinical trial please visit: View Source;draw=3
About CAN-2409
CAN-2409, Candel’s most advanced viral immunotherapy candidate, is a replication-defective adenovirus that delivers the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene to cancer cells. HSV-tk is an enzyme that locally converts orally administered valacyclovir into a toxic metabolite that kills nearby cancer cells. The intra-tumoral administration results in the release of tumor-specific neoantigens in the microenvironment. At the same time, the adenoviral serotype 5 capsid protein elicits a strong pro-inflammatory signal in the tumor microenvironment. This creates the optimal conditions to induce a specific CD8+ T cell mediated response against the injected tumor and uninjected distant metastases for broad anti-tumor activity. Because of its versatility, CAN-2409 has the potential to treat a broad range of solid tumors. Monotherapy activity as well as combination activity with standard of care radiotherapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitors have previously been shown in several preclinical and clinical settings. Furthermore, CAN-2409 presents a favorable tolerability profile; more than 950 patients have been dosed to date, supporting the potential for combination with other therapeutic strategies without inordinate concern of overlapping adverse events. Currently, Candel is also evaluating the effects of treatment with CAN-2409 in non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and localized, non-metastatic prostate cancer in ongoing clinical trials.