On May 29, 2020 Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HARP), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a novel class of T cell engagers, reported interim data from the ongoing dose-escalation portion of a Phase 1 trial for HPN424 in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2020 Virtual Scientific Program (Press release, Harpoon Therapeutics, MAY 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234558690]). HPN424 targets prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and is based on Harpoon’s proprietary Tri-specific T cell Activating Construct (TriTAC) platform designed to recruit a patient’s own immune cells to kill tumor cells.

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!

The presentation highlights interim results in 44 patients across 11 dosing cohorts treated with HPN424 from the ongoing dose escalation portion of a Phase 1 clinical trial. As of the May 11, 2020 cut-off date, initial data demonstrate:

HPN424 is generally well-tolerated and support long-term treatment, and cytokine-related adverse events have been transient and manageable.

Pharmacokinetic data support weekly dosing and pharmacodynamic data supports T cell activation as measured by reduction in circulating tumor cells, increased serum cytokine levels and T cell margination after HPN424 administration.

Early signals of clinical activity include eight patients who remained on study treatment for greater than 24 weeks. In addition, eight patients exhibited decreases in PSA levels compared to baseline, including two who showed PSA (prostate-specific antigen) reductions of at least 50%.

"We are particularly encouraged by data supporting the predicted mechanism of action of HPN424, and the early signs of clinical activity in this heavily pretreated population," stated Gerald McMahon, Ph.D., President and CEO, Harpoon Therapeutics. "These initial data from our lead program represent the first of four product candidates in our TriTAC clinical portfolio that can provide multiple opportunities to accelerate our pipeline into more advanced clinical studies."

"We are excited to share the first clinical data from our HPN424 clinical program. Early data suggest that this novel, half-life extended T cell engager can be administered safely. Several patients remained on treatment for 24 weeks or more, which is notable in this late-stage cancer population," said Natalie Sacks, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Harpoon. "We will continue dose escalation, and plan to open an expansion cohort later in 2020. Our goal is to develop an effective immunotherapy treatment option for patients with prostate cancer."

Trial Design and Interim Results from the HPN424 Phase 1 Clinical Trial

This Phase 1 trial is a multicenter, open-label study designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and activity of HPN424 in patients with mCRPC who are progressing at the time of enrollment and have had at least two prior systemic treatments for metastatic disease. The initial ongoing phase of the trial is dose escalation, with the goal of determining a recommended dose for the expansion phase. The escalation phase began with single patient cohorts and transitioned to a 3×3 design when Grade 2 toxicity was observed. HPN424 is being administered to patients once weekly by intravenous infusion. The primary outcome measures are an assessment of safety and tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. Secondary endpoints include duration of response, progression free and overall survival. Tumor assessments include PSA, CT and bone scans performed every 9 weeks.

As of the May 11, 2020 cut-off date, 44 patients have been treated in 11 cohorts with doses ranging from 1.3 to 120 ng/kg. Enrolled patients had a median of 7 prior therapies, including 73% with prior chemotherapy, and a median of two prior novel hormonal agents. Median PSA level was 244, with a range of 0.1-5000 ng/ml. The most frequent adverse events were chills ((all grade n= 32 (73%), grade >3 n=0 (0%)), pyrexia (all grade n=21 (48%), grade > 3 n=0 (0%)), and cytokine release syndrome (CRS) (all grade n=14 (32%), grade >3 n=3 (7%)). Cytokine-related adverse events were transient, and all patients with these adverse events were retreated successfully with HPN424. Dexamethasone premedication was instituted in cohort 4 (24 ng/kg) and has been successfully administered to mitigate cytokine-related symptoms in patients treated with higher doses in subsequent cohorts. One DLT of asymptomatic Grade 3 serum lipase elevation was observed which resolved and the patient was retreated successfully as scheduled. The most common reasons for study discontinuation were due to progressive disease (72%) and unrelated adverse events (9%).

HPN424 demonstrated dose proportional increase in Cmax and AUC with a current estimate of median T1/2 of 24.9 hours (range: 9.0 – 312 hours). Dose-dependent, transient increases in peripheral cytokine and chemokine levels were observed, including increases in interleukin 6, peaking at 5 hours post infusion and returning to baseline 24 hours post-administration. Maximal cytokine/chemokine levels attenuated with each successive dose within six weeks. Baseline circulating tumor cells (CTC) ranged from 0-160 cells/ml of whole blood. Reduction in CTC was seen in 12 of 27 patients with evaluable CTC compared to baseline.

Eight of 26 patients (31%) with at least 24 weeks in follow-up remained on study beyond 24 weeks. Eight patients showed a PSA decline from baseline ranging from -4 to -76%, including patients with initial rises in PSA after study entry. Two patients had confirmed PSA partial responses with declines of 50% or greater.

Patients continue to be enrolled in the escalation phase of the trial, with a goal to identify a dose for an expansion phase planned for the second half of 2020. The expansion phase of the trial will further evaluate the safety and activity of HPN424 in patients with mCRPC. The trial is titled, "A Phase 1 Open-label, Multicenter, Dose Escalation and Dose Expansion Study of the Safety, Tolerability, and Pharmacokinetics of HPN424 in Patients with Advanced Prostate Cancer Refractory to Androgen Therapy". For additional information about the trial, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov using the identifier NCT03577028.

Conference Call and Webcast Today

Harpoon’s management team will host a webcast and conference call today at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT to review the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) data and provide an update on other pipeline programs. The live call may be accessed by dialing:

877-407-9716 for domestic callers

201-493-6779 for international callers

A live webcast of the call will be available from the Events and Presentations section of the company’s website at View Source and will be archived there shortly after the live event.

On May 29, 2020 Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGIO), a leader in the field of cellular metabolism to treat cancer and rare genetic diseases, reported updated data from the ongoing Phase 1 study evaluating single agent vorasidenib in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-mutant advanced solid tumors, including glioma (Press release, Agios Pharmaceuticals, MAY 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234558689]). Data from the non-enhancing glioma population were featured in an oral presentation at the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) annual meeting, which is being held virtually. Vorasidenib, an investigational, oral, selective, brain-penetrant inhibitor of mutant IDH1 and IDH2 enzymes, is currently being evaluated in the registration-enabling Phase 3 INDIGO study as a potential treatment for patients with residual or recurrent Grade 2 non-enhancing glioma.

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!

"For patients with IDH-mutant non-enhancing glioma who currently have limited treatment options beyond chemotherapy and radiation, targeted oral options such as vorasidenib are urgently needed," said Ingo Mellinghoff, M.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, an investigator for the Phase 1 dose-escalation study. "The updated results of this study in non-enhancing glioma patients provide further evidence of the potential benefit of vorasidenib for these patients, with a favorable safety profile and encouraging preliminary activity, including prolonged disease control, objective tumor responses, and clinically meaningful progression-free survival rates."

"These promising efficacy and safety data in patients with IDH-mutant non-enhancing glioma provide further support for our registration-enabling Phase 3 INDIGO study," said Chris Bowden, M.D., chief medical officer at Agios. "With vorasidenib – the first and only brain-penetrant IDH inhibitor in Phase 3 trials for low-grade glioma – we have an opportunity to target a highly prevalent driver mutation early in the disease evolution, providing a therapeutic alternative to ‘watch and wait’ that can potentially delay the need for chemotherapy and radiation."

Vorasidenib Phase 1 Dose-Escalation Study

Vorasidenib is being evaluated as a single agent in an ongoing Phase 1 dose-escalation trial in IDH1/2 mutant advanced solid tumors (n=93), including glioma (n=52). Enrollment was completed in June 2017. As of the March 3, 2020 data cut-off, study design, enrollment and baseline characteristics of the 22 non-enhancing glioma patients are reported below:

Seventy-seven percent of patients (n=17) had World Health Organization (WHO) classified Grade 2 tumors and 23% (n=5) had Grade 3 tumors.

Ninety-one percent of patients (n=20) had an IDH1 mutation and 5% (n=1) had an IDH2 mutation. One patient did not have a biopsy but was confirmed as IDH mutant positive due to 2-HG elevation by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).

The median age of these patients is 47 years (ranging from 16 to 73).

Sixty-four percent of patients (n=14) had received prior systemic therapy. Patients had received a median of two prior systemic therapies (ranging from 1 to 4).

Fifty-nine percent of patients (n=13) had previously received temozolomide and 36% (n=8) of patients received prior radiation therapy.

Patients received daily doses of vorasidenib ranging from 10 mg to 200 mg.

Thirty-six percent of patients (n=8) remain on treatment.

Safety Data

The safety analysis conducted on the 22 patients with non-enhancing glioma as of the data cut-off demonstrated that vorasidenib has a favorable safety profile at dose levels below 100 mg once daily. Safety data for this population are consistent with the results reported for all patients enrolled in this trial at the 2018 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.

The majority of adverse events (AEs) reported by investigators were mild to moderate, with the most common (>40%) across all grades being increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (64%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (59%), nausea (46%) and headache (41%).

Grade 3 or higher AEs were observed in 27% of patients (n=6) with the most common being increased ALT (9%) and AST (9%).

AEs of Grade 2 or higher elevated transaminases occurred in seven non-enhancing glioma patients at the higher dose levels (³100 mg) and resolved to Grade £1 with dose modification or discontinuation.

No AEs of Grade 2 or higher elevated transaminases were observed in patients at the lower dose levels (<100 mg).

Of the 14 (64%) patients who discontinued treatment, 9% (n=2) discontinued due to an AE.

Efficacy Data

Efficacy data from the 22 non-enhancing glioma patients as of the data cut-off showed:

The investigator-reported objective response rate (ORR) was 18% with one patient exhibiting a partial response and three patients exhibiting minor responses using the Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology for low-grade glioma (RANO-LGG) criteria.

Seventy-three percent of patients (n=16) achieved stable disease according to the investigator as assessed by RANO-LGG.

With 59% of events reported, median progression free survival (PFS) was 31.4 months (95% CI 11.2, 40.8).

Twenty-four month PFS rate was 55.4%.

The median treatment duration was 25.8 months (ranging from 1.0 to 47.9) with 68% (n=15) remaining on treatment for ³1 year.

Ongoing Phase 3 INDIGO Trials in Progress Poster

A trials in progress poster was presented at the 2020 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting to highlight the ongoing global, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 INDIGO study of vorasidenib in approximately 366 patients with residual or recurrent, non-enhancing, Grade 2 low-grade glioma with an IDH1 or IDH2 mutation and who have undergone surgery as their only treatment. The goal of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of vorasidenib compared with placebo based on radiographic PFS and determine whether vorasidenib could provide a therapeutic alternative to "watch and wait" to help control low-grade glioma and potentially delay the need for chemotherapy and/or radiation. The study is currently enrolling. More information can be found on the INDIGO study website.

Vorasidenib is not approved in any country for the treatment of patients with low-grade glioma.

About Glioma

Glioma presents in varying degrees of tumor aggressiveness, ranging from slower growing (low-grade glioma) to rapidly progressing (high-grade glioma-Glioblastoma Multiforme). Tumor enhancement is an imaging characteristic assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and enhancing tumors are more likely to be high-grade.

Common symptoms of glioma include seizures, memory disturbance, sensory impairment and neurologic deficits. The long-term prognosis is poor, and regardless of treatment, the majority of patients with low-grade gliomas will have recurrent disease that will progress over time. Approximately 11,000 low-grade glioma patients are diagnosed annually in the U.S. and EU and approximately 80 percent have an IDH mutation.

On May 29, 2020 MD Anderson reported that Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping mutation had a 46.5% objective response rate to the targeted therapy drug tepotinib, as shown in a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting (Abstract 9556 – Poster 322) by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Press release, MD Anderson, MAY 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234558688]).

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!

"The success of this trial, alongside other studies on the same class of drugs, establishes MET exon 14 as an actionable target for non-small cell lung cancer," said senior author Xiuning Le, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Thoracic-Head & Neck Medical Oncology. "We’re pleased to show that another group of lung cancer patients may benefit from precision medicine."

METex14 skipping is a mutation that drives cancer growth and occurs in 3-4% of all NSCLC patients. Patients with METex14 skipping tend to be older, with a median age of 74, and typically don’t have other actionable mutations with existing targeted therapy options.

The study results represent cohort A of the single-arm, international Phase II VISION trial, which is ongoing with additional cohorts. More than 6,700 NSCLC patients were prescreened for MET alterations through liquid and/or tissue biopsy. A total of 152 patients with advanced NSCLC and METex14 skipping were treated with tepotinib. Patients with prior treatment and/or stable brain metastasis were allowed to participate in the trial. Participants were treated with 500mg daily oral tepotinib.

Meaningful benefit for an elderly population

The primary endpoint was objective response rate, defined as complete or partial response, according to the RECIST v1.1 criteria and confirmed by independent review. After nine months follow-up, the primary efficacy population of 99 patients had a 46.5% objective response rate and durable response of 11.1 months.

"The median duration of response of almost one year is very meaningful for this patient population," Le said. "It’s important for these elderly patients to have another treatment option, other than traditional chemotherapy, in oral form that can improve their quality of life for a long duration."

Toxicities were manageable, with grade ≥ 3 treatment-related adverse events reported in 27.6% of patients. The most common side effect was peripheral edema. Eleven percent of patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events.

The study also collected patient-reported outcomes, which indicated an improvement in coughing and overall maintenance of quality of life.

Liquid biopsy for biomarker detection

The VISION study represents the largest METex14 skipping cohort to be identified prospectively through liquid biopsy, verifying that liquid biopsy is a reliable method to detect the mutation. The study also showed that liquid biopsy was a useful tool to identify response to the drug.

Matched liquid biopsy samples for baseline and on-treatment were available for 51 patients. Next-generation sequencing found 34 of those patients had a molecular response with a complete or deep reduction of the mutation, and radiographic response was confirmed in 68% of patients who had a molecular response.

"This study marked a major advance in that we now have a highly effective, oral therapy for a group of non-small lung cancer patients that previously did not have any targeted therapy options," said co-author John Heymach, M.D., Ph.D., chair of Thoracic-Head & Neck Medical Oncology. "We are proud to lead the field forward as we work to provide novel treatments to patients."

Tepotinib was granted breakthrough therapy designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2019, based on early data from the VISION study. It was approved for use as the first oral targeted therapy for MET-positive NSCLC in Japan in March 2020.

A full list of co-authors and their disclosures are included in the paper. The research was supported by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

On May 29, 2020 eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc., a leader in the development of selective translation regulation inhibitors (STRIs) for the treatment of cancer, reported that positive Phase 2 data from its pipeline program tomivosertib (eFT508), will be presented at the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2020 Virtual Scientific Program at 8:00 a.m. ET on May 29 (Press release, eFFECTOR Therapeutics, MAY 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234558687]). The data demonstrates tomivosertib’s potential as a therapeutic solution for common resistance mechanisms to checkpoint inhibitors.

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 a Phase 2 study, open-label study, tomivosertib demonstrated antitumor activity in combination with check point inhibitors (CPI) in patients with solid tumors who progressed on CPI treatment. In the study, 41% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with tomivosertib showed progression free survival at 24 weeks. The median progression free survival rate was 19 weeks, and all NSCLC subjects entered the study with progression by RECIST 1.1 on single agent checkpoint inhibitor prior to adding tomivosertib.

"Tomivosertib was designed to down regulate multiple immunosuppressive factors by acting at the level of mRNA translation and our clinical data continue to highlight the potential of tomivosertib to complement focused immune checkpoint inhibitor activity such as anti-PD-1 and PD-L1 agents," said Steve Worland, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of eFFECTOR. "This study underscores the importance of progression free survival for patients who may experience extended and improved quality of life on checkpoint inhibitors with the addition of tomivosertib prior to switching to cytotoxic salvage therapy."

Secondary objectives for the current study include characterizing the pharmacokinetics and safety of tomivosertib when added to an anti-PD-1/anti PD-L1 therapy. There were no grade 5 treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) related to tomivosertib and the majority of TEAEs were grade 1 or 2.

About Tomivosertib (eFT508)
Tomivosertib is eFFECTOR’s wholly-owned, highly selective translation regulation inhibitor that targets MNK1 and MNK2 (MNK1/2) acting at the level of mRNA translation. The oral small molecule drug candidate promotes anti-tumor immune activity by selective down regulation of several immune checkpoint receptors and specific immunosuppressive cytokines. Tomivosertib is being evaluated as an add-on when patients are experiencing insufficient response to an FDA-approved checkpoint inhibitor [NCT03616834].It is also under evaluation in advanced breast cancer in combination with paclitaxel as part of a study led by researchers at McGill University and fully funded by Stand Up to Cancer Canada.

On May 29, 2020 IMV Inc. (Nasdaq: IMV; TSX: IMV), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel class of targeted cancer immunotherapies and vaccines against infectious diseases, reported updated clinical response and translational data from DeCidE1, its Phase 2 study evaluating the safety and efficacy of DPX-Survivac with intermittent low-dose cyclophosphamide (CPA) in patients with recurrent, advanced platinum-sensitive and -resistant ovarian cancer (Press release, IMV, MAY 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234558686]).

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!

Results from the ongoing study showed prolonged durable clinical responses, alongside favorable tolerability, and strong translational data linking the observed clinical benefit with DPX-Survivac’ mechanism of action. Oliver Dorigo, M.D., Ph.D., Principal Investigator of the DeCidE1 study, is presenting these results in a poster presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2020 (ASCO20) Virtual Scientific Program.

"IMV’s targeted T-cell therapy continues to elicit a rapid and robust immune response with survivin-specific T cells infiltrating tumors as soon as 56 days post-treatment. These results validate DPX-Survivac’s unique mechanism of action and support the hypothesis that survivin-specific T cells can translate into clinical benefits when sustained over an extended period of time," said Dr. Dorigo associate professor and director of gynecologic oncology at Stanford University. "These results support DPX-Survivac as a new and much-needed treatment option, with potential to improve the quality of life in women with recurrent late-stage ovarian cancer, a hard-to-treat indication where other immunotherapies have so far had limited success."

"With these results, DPX-Survivac continues to exhibit significant and durable anti-tumor activity, paving the way for targeted T cell therapies in advanced recurrent ovarian cancer and other solid tumors. In particular, we are quite pleased to observe an additional patient with stable disease (SD) convert to partial response (PR), implying the potential for responses to deepen over time

with ongoing therapy. Additionally, DPX-Survivac continues to be well tolerated, which is especially meaningful compared to single-agent chemotherapy and other approaches in development," said Joanne Schindler, M.D., D.V.M., Chief Medical Officer at IMV. "We believe these results highlight DPX-Survivac’s potential to alter the treatment landscape in advanced ovarian cancer and support its continued development. We look forward to providing updates from other studies evaluating DPX-Survivac, in multiple solid tumors and r/r DLBCL, later this year."

Updated Results from DeCidE1

As of data cut-off date, May 2, 2020, 19 patients were evaluable for efficacy with four patients (21%) still receiving treatment. Notably, 18/19 evaluable patients had stage 3 or 4 disease at time of diagnosis, the majority of whom had received >3 lines of prior therapy and were platinum resistant. Key findings on the safety and efficacy of DPX-Survivac/CPA are outlined below:

5/19 patients (26%) achieved a PR with tumor regression >30% on target lesions

15/19 patients (79%) achieved disease control, defined as Stable Disease (SD) or Partial Response (PR) on target lesions

Tumor shrinkage of target lesions was observed in 10 patients (53%)

Overall, treatment was well-tolerated. The majority of treatment-related adverse events reported were Grade 1 events and related to reactions at the injection site.

Durable clinical benefits lasting ≥ 6 months were observed in seven patients (37%)

5/7 patients (71%) have now reached duration of clinical benefit > 10 months including three patients with PR and two patients with SD

The two patients with SD are about to reach the 1-year mark

Translational analyses on longitudinally collected peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) and tumor tissue samples link observed clinical benefit and survivin-specific T cells, supporting DPX-Survivac’s unique mechanism of action. Key translational findings are outlined below:

Treatment generated a survivin-specific CD8+ T cell response in PBMC samples of 14/16 (87%) evaluable patients.

Treatment induced infiltration of survivin-specific T cell clones into the tumors as early as day 56 following treatment, which was shown in an analysis of the TCR² repertoires in five subjects who achieved stable disease.

These data are presented in a poster session (Abstract Number: 6075) at the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper)20 Virtual Scientific Program, available on-demand to ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper)20 participants beginning at 8:00 am ET on Friday, May 29, 2020. A copy of the poster is available under "Scientific Posters" in the "Events, Webcasts & Presentations" section of IMV’s website.

About the DeCidE1 Study

"DeCidE1" is a Phase 2 multicenter, open-label study evaluating the safety and effectiveness of DPX-Survivac, with intermittent low-dose cyclophosphamide (CPA) used as an immunomodulator to increase the level of survivin-specific T cells. This Phase 2 arm enrolled 19 evaluable patients with recurrent, advanced platinum-sensitive and –resistant ovarian cancer. Except for one patient, all patients had stage 3 or 4 disease at time of diagnosis. 12 patients had received 3 or more lines of prior therapy.

Patients received 2 subcutaneous injections of DPX-Survivac three weeks apart and every eight weeks thereafter, and intermittent low dose CPA one week on and one week off for up to 1 year. Paired tumor biopsies were performed prior to treatment and on treatment.

Primary endpoints of this study are overall response rate, disease control rate and safety. Secondary endpoints include cell mediated immunity, immune cell infiltration in paired biopsy samples, duration of response, time to progression, overall survival and biomarker analyses.

About DPX-Survivac

DPX-Survivac is the lead candidate in IMV’s new class of targeted immunotherapies designed to elicit antigen-specific functional, robust and sustained de novo T cell response. IMV believes this mechanism of action is key to generating durable solid tumor regressions. DPX-Survivac consists of five unique HLA-restricted survivin peptides formulated in IMV’s proprietary DPX drug delivery platform and known to induce a cytotoxic CD8+ T cell response against survivin expressing cancer cells.

Survivin, recognized by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a promising tumor-associated antigen, is broadly over-expressed in most cancer types and plays an essential role in antagonizing cell death, supporting tumor-associated angiogenesis and promoting resistance to chemotherapies. IMV has identified over 20 cancer indications in which survivin can be targeted by DPX-Survivac.

DPX-Survivac has received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as maintenance therapy in advanced ovarian cancer, as well as orphan drug designation status from the U.S. FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the ovarian cancer indication.