On May 9, 2023 ALX Oncology Holdings Inc., ("ALX Oncology") (Nasdaq: ALXO), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing therapies to block the CD47 checkpoint mechanism, reported the initiation of a Phase 2 investigator-sponsored trial of evorpacept, a next generation CD47 blocker, in combination with liposomal doxorubicin and KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in patients with recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center (Press release, ALX Oncology, MAY 9, 2023, View Source [SID1234631227]).
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This is an open-label, single-arm Phase 2 clinical trial (NCT05467670). The study is being led by Haider Mahdi, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, The University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Magee-Womens Research Institute, the largest U.S. research institute dedicated to women’s health research. Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, will provide KEYTRUDA to support this study.
"We are excited to launch this study and to evaluate evorpacept in this novel therapeutic combination in a difficult-to-treat population," said Dr. Mahdi. "Ovarian cancer patients who develop platinum-resistant disease have poor prognosis, and are in desperate need for new treatment options that are safe and effective. From a mechanistic standpoint, CD47 blockade has been shown to complement chemotherapeutic agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors. We anticipate that the combination of evorpacept, liposomal doxorubicin and pembrolizumab may lead to improved efficacy and a more favorable benefit-risk profile."
ALX Oncology owns worldwide commercial rights to evorpacept.
About Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the United States and eighth worldwide. According to estimates from the American Cancer Society, more than 19,000 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the United States and there were nearly 13,000 deaths from ovarian cancer in 2022. Despite recent advances in the therapeutic landscape of newly diagnosed ovarian cancer, advanced ovarian cancer is still considered incurable for the majority of patients, and 80% of patients with advanced ovarian cancer will experience a disease recurrence.