On December 10, 2021 Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CADL), a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel oncolytic viral immunotherapies, reported a collaboration with Partnership for Accelerating Cancer Therapies (PACT) and the Cancer Immune Monitoring and Analysis Centers – Cancer Immunologic Data Commons (CIMAC-CIDC) to profile the biomarker response to a combination of CAN-2409 + valacyclovir in combination with anti-PD-1 and PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Press release, Candel Therapeutics, DEC 10, 2021, View Source [SID1234596770]).
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Analysis of longitudinal biologic samples from a Candel phase 2 clinical trial will be performed by the CIMAC-CIDC research centers and sponsored by PACT. The assays proposed include in depth immunophenotyping of serial lung biopsies and peripheral blood samples obtained during the clinical trial. Candel’s clinical trial in NSCLC is designed to assess the tumor response to CAN-2409 when added to anti-PD-1 or PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment after patients have inadequately responded to ICI with or without chemotherapy. The trial comprises three cohorts; 1) patients whose best response to ICI treatment has been stable disease; 2) patients who have initially responded to ICI treatment, but whose disease is now progressing; and 3) patients who have refractory disease, meaning they are progressing rapidly despite ICI treatment. In each of these settings, minimal to no response is expected from further ICI treatment. The collaboration will analyze samples from each of these cohorts with the aim to identify early biological indicators of response and further stratify potential responders to treatment.
"We have shown that local administration of CAN-2409 monotherapy induces significant remodeling of the tumor immune microenvironment coupled with systemic activation of the immune response," said Francesca Barone, MD, PhD, Vice President and Head of Research at Candel. "We are honored by the selection of our clinical trial by the PACT consortium, which provides an important validation of Candel’s approach to embed the highest levels of scientific rigor in our clinical trials. The data generated through this collaboration will broaden our understanding of the biological response to combination therapy of CAN-2409 with ICI, as we endeavor to bring effective new treatment options to patients with cancer."
About PACT
The Partnership for Accelerating Cancer Therapies (PACT) is a five-year public-private research collaboration launched by the National Institutes of Health, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), and 12 leading pharmaceutical companies as part of the Cancer MoonshotSM Research Initiatives. The PACT initiative is partnered with the Cancer Immune Monitoring Analysis Centers (CIMACs) and the Cancer Immunologic Data Commons (CIDC) Network to develop and validate a set of standardized and harmonized biomarker assays that profile the response to immuno-oncology interventions, including combination therapies, oncolytic viral immunotherapy, and other novel immunotherapy treatments.
For more information about PACT, visit View Source
About CAN-2409
CAN-2409, Candel’s most advanced oncolytic viral immunotherapy candidate, is a replication-deficient 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 700 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 evaluating the effects of treatment with CAN-2409 in non-small cell lung cancer, high-grade glioma, pancreatic cancer, and localized, non-metastatic prostate cancer in ongoing clinical trials.
For more information on this clinical study, please visit: View Source