On May 19, 2021 Advaxis, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADXS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of immunotherapy products reported updated data from the Company’s ongoing Phase 1/2 study evaluating ADXS-503 in combination with KEYTRUDA which will be presented as a poster at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2021 Annual Meeting (Press release, Advaxis, MAY 19, 2021, View Source [SID1234580272]). ADXS-503 is the first drug construct from the ADXS-HOT off-the-shelf, cancer-type specific, immunotherapy program which leverages Advaxis’ proprietary Lm technology platform to target hotspot mutations that commonly occur in specific cancer types as well as other proprietary, tumor-associated antigens.
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"These early results, which include a disease control rate of 44% in the first 9 evaluable patients treated with ADXS-503 as an add on therapy at progression with pembrolizumab, are particularly encouraging given the durable nature of disease control in 3 patients," said Suresh Ramalingam, M.D., Roberto C. Goizueta Chair for Cancer Research, Director, Division of Medical Oncology and Deputy Director of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University School of Medicine. "The translational results from the study provide interesting insights on the potential mechanism of action by which the addition of ADXS-503 may may be effective in this patient population."
Ken Berlin, Chief Executive Officer of Advaxis, said, "We are encouraged by these updated results which continue to support the potential of ADXS-503 to enhance and/or restore sensitivity to checkpoint inhibitors. The clinical activity observed to date in this challenging patient population, combined with a favorable safety profile, suggest that ADXS-503 may be an important new off-the-shelf immunotherapy treatment option. We look forward to continued progress in the clinic with our ADXS-HOT products which includes the ongoing Phase 1/2 study of ADXS-503 in NSCLC, and the expansion of the program to our planned Phase 1 Study of ADXS-504 for the treatment of early prostate cancer."
Key presentation highlights:
Highlights from the poster presentation titled, "A phase 1 study of an off-the-shelf, multi-neoantigen vector (ADXS-503) in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progressing on pembrolizumab as last therapy" presented by Missak Haigentz, M.D., Section Chief of Hematology and Oncology at Morristown Medical Center and Medical Director of Hematology and Oncology for Atlantic Health, and Study Investigator, include:
10 patients have been treated with ADXS-503 as an add on therapy to patients failing pembrolizumab as last therapy with 10 patients evaluable for safety and 9 patients evaluable for efficacy
Combination therapy was well tolerated with no DLTS or added toxicity of the two drugs. Grade 1 and 2, transient and reversible events included chills, fever, fatigue, in approximately half of the patients
The Disease Control Rate (DCR) was 44% (4/9)
Clinical benefit was durable, with an observed partial response (PR) and stable disease (SD) sustained for over a year, and another observed SD lasting over 6 months. An additional PR was maintained for approximately 4 months
Biomarker data demonstrate that patients who seem to achieve clinical benefit include those with PD-L1 expression ≥50%, secondary resistance disease to pembrolizumab and those who show proliferation and/or activation of NK and CD8+ T cells within the first weeks of therapy
Translational studies show:
Antitumoral T-cell responses elicited against hot-spot mutation antigens and/or tumor associated antigens (TAAs)
Emergence of naive CD8+ Tcell clones, suggesting reactivity against novel antigens
Induction of proliferation and/or activation of pre-existing CD8+ T-cell clones, including PD-1 upregulation
Enrollment in Part B of the ongoing study will continue to further evaluate the clinical benefit and immune effects of adding on ADXS-503 to patients progressing on pembrolizumab
The Phase 1/2 clinical trial of ADXS-503 is seeking to establish the recommended dose, safety, tolerability and clinical activity of ADXS-503 administered alone and in combination with a KEYTRUDA in approximately 50 patients with NSCLC, in at least five sites across the U.S. The two dose levels with monotherapy in Part A, (1 X108 and 5 X108 CFU) have been completed. Part B with ADXS-503 (1 X108 CFU) in combination with KEYTRUDA is currently enrolling its efficacy expansion for up to 18 patients at dose level 1 (1 X108 CFU + KEYTRUDA) with the potential to proceed to dose level 2 (5 X108 CFU + KEYTRUDA) at a later date. Part C, which is evaluating ADXS-503 in combination with KEYTRUDA (1 X108 CFU + KEYTRUDA) as a first line treatment for patients with NSCLC with PD-L1 expression ≥ 1% or who are unfit for chemotherapy is currently enrolling patients.
About ADXS-HOT
ADXS-HOT is a program that leverages the Company’s proprietary Lm technology to target hotspot mutations that commonly occur in specific cancer types. ADXS-HOT drug candidates are designed to target acquired shared or "public" mutations in tumor driver genes along with other proprietary cancer-testes and oncofetal tumor-associated antigens that also commonly occur in specific cancer types. ADXS-HOT drug candidates are an off-the-shelf treatment, designed to potentially treat all patients with a specific cancer type, without the need for pretreatment biomarker testing, DNA sequencing or diagnostic testing.