On September 16, 2024 UroGen Pharma Ltd. (Nasdaq: URGN), a biotech company dedicated to developing and commercializing innovative solutions that treat urothelial and specialty cancers, reported that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for patent application no. 18/535,108 entitled "Material and Method for Treating Cancer (Press release, UroGen Pharma, SEP 16, 2024, View Source [SID1234646663])."

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The allowed claims relate to the combination of UroGen’s RTGel technology with medac’s licensed proprietary lyophilized mitomycin formulation and cover the use of UroGen’s UGN-103 and UGN-104 development programs in the treatment of low-grade intermediate-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (LG-IR-NMIBC) and low-grade upper tract urothelial cancer (LG-UTUC), respectively. The U.S. patent, once issued, will have an expiration date in December 2041.

"Allowance of this patent application strengthens our intellectual property position for our next-generation investigational programs for patients with urothelial cancers," said Liz Barrett, President and CEO of UroGen. "We believe that the combination of UroGen’s RTGel technology with medac’s patent-protected lyophilized mitomycin has the potential to provide advantages related to production, cost, supply, and product convenience for patients. Our vision remains to develop innovative medicines that advance the care of patients, and this patent allowance is a key element of our strategy to build a long-term growth company."

In January 2024, UroGen entered into a licensing and supply agreement with medac to develop UGN-103 for LG-IR-NMIBC and UGN-104 for LG-UTUC. In April 2024, the FDA accepted UroGen’s IND application for UGN-103 and the company is currently onboarding clinical sites for the study. The company anticipates commencing a similar study for UGN-104, which is expected in early 2025.

About UGN-102

UGN-102 (mitomycin) for intravesical solution is an innovative drug formulation of mitomycin, currently in Phase 3 development for the treatment of LG-IR-NMIBC. Utilizing UroGen’s proprietary RTGel technology, a sustained release, hydrogel-based formulation, UGN-102 is designed to enable longer exposure of bladder tissue to mitomycin, thereby enabling the treatment of tumors by non-surgical means. UGN-102 is delivered to patients using a standard urinary catheter in an outpatient setting by a trained healthcare professional. UroGen completed the NDA submission for UGN-102 in August 2024, ahead of schedule. UroGen anticipates potential FDA approval in early 2025 if the NDA is accepted for filing by the FDA and priority review is granted.

About UGN-103 and UGN-104

UGN-103 and UGN-104 are innovative mitomycin formulations in development by UroGen for the treatment of LG-IR-NMIBC and LG-UTUC, respectively. UGN-103 aims to streamline manufacturing and reconstitution processes while providing intellectual property coverage until December 2041; it utilizes UroGen’s RTGel technology for prolonged mitomycin exposure. UGN-104, also leveraging RTGel technology, is designed for treating low-grade upper tract urothelial cancer and is anticipated to enter Phase 3 trials in early 2025, offering a non-surgical treatment option with similar intellectual property protection.

On September 16, 2024 Medivir AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: MVIR), a pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for cancer in areas of high unmet medical need, reported positive, mature data from its ongoing phase 1b / 2a study of fostroxacitabine bralpamide (fostrox) + Lenvima in advanced liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma/HCC) at the ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) (European Society of Medical Oncology) Congress in Barcelona, Spain (Press release, Medivir, SEP 16, 2024, View Source;lenvima-confirm-promise-of-improved-outcomes-in-advanced-liver-cancer-detailed-and-mature-data-presented-at-esmo-302248817.html [SID1234646679]).

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Today’s ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) update, poster number 986P, presented by Dr Hong Jae Chon on Monday September 16, shows promising duration of benefit with 19% of patients continuing treatment for more than a year and the longest running patient remaining on treatment for over 2 years, with sustained partial response. The patients in the study had disease control on fostrox + Lenvima independent if they benefitted from previous line of therapy, showing potential for all second-line patients to benefit from the combination. The safety and tolerability profile continues to be encouraging with no unexpected adverse events. While hematological adverse events were common, they were temporary in nature. Decreases in neutrophil & platelet counts showed a cyclic pattern with recovery before next cycle of treatment, enabling patients to remain on treatment long-term. Importantly, no patient experienced febrile neutropenia or low platelet count with bleeding and there were no fostrox-related serious adverse events.

Results come despite very poor prognosis for most second-line HCC patients today, with just 5–10% responding to current standard of care treatment, and a typical TTP of only 3–4 months.

Dr. Pia Baumann, Chief Medical Officer at Medivir, said:
– "With three patients still remaining on study treatment, all of whom treated for more than a year, this data-set is now quite mature. At a median follow-up of 10.5 months, fostrox + Lenvima have clearly shown promise of improved outcomes beyond current alternatives for second-line liver cancer patients. Fostrox is designed to only target tumor cells locally in the liver, without harming healthy cells. It is therefore reassuring to see the tolerability profile of fostrox enabling the combination of two highly potent treatments, fostrox + Lenvima, without compromising patient safety. Patients were able to stay on treatment long-term, which evidently contributes to the extended duration of benefit and a median time to progression of 10.9 months, substantially longer than previously seen in second-line liver cancer. It is with reinforced confidence we continue our preparations for the initiation of the planned phase 2b study comparing fostrox + Lenvima with Lenvima alone in a randomized setting to confirm the benefit of the combination."

Dr Hong Jae Chon, Professor at CHA Bundang Hospital in Korea, and investigator in the fostrox + Lenvima study, commented:
"Treatment outcomes have improved in first-line with the use of immunotherapy combinations, resulting in more patients fit enough to receive second-line treatment. But with no treatments approved in second-line after immunotherapy, there is a significant unmet medical need for new treatments options for these patients. The phase 1b/2a data for fostrox + Lenvima show highly encouraging clinical benefits for patients, indicating that when adding fostrox to Lenvima, efficacy is better than expected from Lenvima alone. It is especially encouraging that in addition to patients experiencing benefit for an extended period of time, patients also responded to the treatment independent of outcome in previous line of therapy. I look forward to evaluating the efficacy of fostrox plus Lenvima in a randomized, controlled trial."

The data are from Medivir’s ongoing phase 1b/2a open-label, multi-center, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study, evaluating the safety and efficacy of fostrox in combination with Lenvima in patients for whom current first- or second-line treatment has proven ineffective or is not tolerable.

HCC is the most common type of liver cancer, accounting for more than 80% of cases worldwide.2 There are approximately 660,000 patients diagnosed with HCC per year globally and current five-year survival is less than 20 percent3.

Medivir will host a webcast where Dr Chon and Dr Pia Baumann will present the data and answer questions. The webcast will take place Today, September 16, at 13.45 CET, and will be streamed via a link on the website: www.medivir.com/investors/presentations.

The poster and the presentation from the webcast will also be available on Medivir’s website after the presentation.

On September 16, 2024 Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZNTL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing clinically differentiated small molecule therapeutics targeting fundamental biological pathways of cancers, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted the partial clinical hold on studies of azenosertib, the Company’s novel, selective, and orally bioavailable inhibitor of WEE1 (Press release, Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, SEP 16, 2024, View Source [SID1234649388]). The FDA has cleared the Company to resume enrollment in all ongoing azenosertib clinical studies with no changes in the clinical development plan. Zentalis will be working with clinical trial investigators to resume study activities across the azenosertib development program as quickly as possible.

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"We are grateful to the FDA for their collaboration and review of our complete response package, which included a comprehensive safety assessment of the azenosertib program," said Kimberly Blackwell, M.D., Chief Executive Officer. "We are extremely pleased with the successful resolution of the partial clinical hold. Our confidence in the therapeutic index of azenosertib has been unwavering, and we continue to believe in the potential for this treatment to address unmet medical needs faced by people living with gynecologic malignancies."

At a corporate event later this year, Zentalis will present azenosertib monotherapy data and provide additional updates to azenosertib clinical development and other data presentation timelines. The Company remains on track to meet all previously disclosed data guidance for the remainder of 2024.

About Azenosertib
Azenosertib is a novel, selective, and orally bioavailable inhibitor of WEE1 currently being evaluated in monotherapy and combination clinical studies in ovarian cancer and additional tumor types. WEE1 acts as a master regulator of the G1-S and G2-M cell cycle checkpoints, through negative regulation of both CDK1 and CDK2, to prevent replication of cells with damaged DNA. By inhibiting WEE1, azenosertib enables cell cycle progression, despite high levels of DNA damage, thereby resulting in the accumulation of DNA damage and leading to mitotic catastrophe and cancer cell death.

On September 16, 2024 Instil Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: TIL, "Instil") and ImmuneOnco Biopharmaceuticals (Shanghai) Inc. (HKEX:1541, "ImmuneOnco") reported the global registrational strategy for the PD-L1xVEGF bispecific antibody SYN-2510/IMM2510 in combination with chemotherapy in front-line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and in front-line triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) (Press release, ImmuneOnco Biopharma, SEP 16, 2024, View Source [SID1234655704]).

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In China, ImmuneOnco is accelerating the development of IMM2510/SYN-2510 in front-line NSCLC by targeting initiation in late 2024 of a Phase 1b/2 front-line chemo combination study. This study is expected to enroll patients with driver gene mutation-negative non-squamous and squamous NSCLC. ImmuneOnco is also accelerating development of IMM2510/SYN-2510 in front-line TNBC with initial Phase 1b/2 chemotherapy combination studies targeted to begin in early 2025.

In the United States, Instil is prioritizing development of SYN-2510/IMM2510 in NSCLC and TNBC. US IND submission is targeted for late 2024, starting with a Phase 2 trial of SYN-2510/IMM2510 monotherapy in second-line non-squamous and squamous NSCLC.

With potential positive proof-of-concept data, ImmuneOnco and Instil may initiate joint global randomized Phase 3 chemotherapy combination trials in first-line non-squamous and squamous NSCLC and/or first-line TNBC.

"There are significant unmet medical needs in NSCLC and TNBC cancer patients which may be addressed by IMM2510," said Dr. Wenzhi Tian, PhD, CEO and CSO of ImmuneOnco. "This practical and accelerated registrational strategy, which is aligned with Instil, paves a clear pathway to a potential regulatory approval for us in China and for Instil Bio globally."

"SYN-2510 may have the opportunity to meaningfully improve on the current standard of care in NSCLC and TNBC," said Bronson Crouch, CEO of Instil. "Our expectation for the initial US study of SYN-2510 is that it would lay a foundation for the efficient enrollment of potential global Phase 3 studies."

About SYN-2510/IMM2510

SYN-2510/IMM2510 is a PD-L1xVEGF bispecific antibody in development for the treatment of multiple solid tumor cancers. SYN-2510/IMM2510 is differentiated from other PD-(L)1xVEGF bispecific antibodies by its VEGF trap, which binds multiple VEGF receptor ligands beyond VEGF-A, a bispecific structure which leverages PD-L1 as an anchor in the tumor microenvironment (TME), and enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) to direct killing of PD-L1-positive tumor cells.

On September 16, 2024 Immutep Limited, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel LAG-3 immunotherapiesfor cancer and autoimmune disease, reported positive efficacy and safety results from the TACTI-003 Phase IIb trial evaluating eftilagimod alpha (efti) in combination with MSD’s (Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA) antiPD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) as first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients (1L HNSCC) (Press release, Immutep, SEP 16, 2024, View Source [SID1234646626]).

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These results with a data cut-off of 11 March 2024 were selected as a Proffered Paper oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress 2024 and were presented by Claus Kristensen, M.D., Ph.D., Head of Section for Thoracic and Head and Neck Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, on 15 September. The data adds to the previously reported overall response rates and safety data on 27 June and 12 July.

Dr. Kristensen stated, "The efficacy and safety data in TACTI-003 are very encouraging and show the significant potential of this novel immunotherapy combination to fight difficult-to-treat head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. The clinically meaningful improvement in responses for patients with high PD-L1 expression in the randomised portion of the trial, combined with the compelling response rates in patients with no PD-L1 expression, are a testament to the complementary nature of efti in combination with KEYTRUDA. I am particularly impressed that these higher response rates and clear increase in biological activity seen in the efti arm do not come at the expense of durability of response or lead to an increased toxicity profile, which is often the case when combining therapies in the search for more efficacious treatments for cancer patients."

Dr. Frédéric Triebel, CSO of Immutep, said "Through multiple clinical trials, we see the promise of efti to not only improve cancer patients’ clinical responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors, but also to expand patient populations who respond to them including patients with negative PD-L1 expression. Once again, the TACTI003 trial has reinforced efti’s positive impact on both these fronts. We are excited to see efti in combination with KEYTRUDA now driving a 1.9-fold increase in responses for head and neck cancer patients with high PDL1 expression as compared to KEYTRUDA alone, and a statistically significant increase in absolute lymphocyte count in the treatment arm showing efti’s biological activity in a randomised setting."

Marc Voigt, CEO of Immutep, added "As we move into the latter half of 2024, we will continue to follow the data in TACTI-003 and start to engage with regulatory authorities regarding potential paths forward. We are certainly pleased with durability we are seeing, which is consistent with other trials in which efti combined with KEYTRUDA achieves a high DOR, unlike many other therapeutic combinations. We are hopeful this positive duration of response continues and, as seen in first line non-small cell lung cancer in the TACTI-002 trial evaluating efti in combination with KEYTRUDA, eventually contributes to an overall survival benefit for patients with first line head and neck cancer."

ESMO Congress 2024 Proffered Paper Oral Presentation
Title: Primary Results from TACTI-003: A Randomized Phase IIb Trial Comparing Eftilagimod Alpha (soluble LAG-3) Plus Pembrolizumab Versus Pembrolizumab Alone in First-Line Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma with CPS ≥1

Clinical Highlights from Randomised Cohort A in 1L HNSCC Patients with Any PD-L1 Expression (CPS ≥1)
Efti leads to higher Objective Response Rates (ORR)
• Efti in combination with pembrolizumab (E+P) led to a 32.8% ORR (34.5% including one partial response reported after data cut-off) in evaluable patients with CPS ≥1 (N=58) compared to 26.7% for pembrolizumab in evaluable patients with CPS ≥1 (N=60), according to RECIST 1.1. Imbalances of prognostic markers towards the pembrolizumab alone arm included HPV status, smoking status, and primary tumour location.

• E+P outperformance in patients with any PD-L1 expression was strongest in high PD-L1 expressing patients (CPS ≥20) with a 31.0% ORR (N=29) versus an 18.5% ORR for pembrolizumab alone (N=27), along with a complete response rate of 6.9% in E+P arm versus 3.7% for pembrolizumab alone. An additional partial response was reported in CPS ≥20 after data cut-off leading to a 34.5% ORR, a 1.9- fold increase in responses over pembrolizumab alone in this patient group.

Efti maintains a high Duration of Response (DOR)
• Durability of response was achieved with the addition of efti with a median DOR of 17.5 months s in the E+P arm (N=58) as compared to 17.1 months in the pembrolizumab alone arm (N=60)
o Data compares favourably to other anti-PD-1 combinations with cytotoxic drugs like chemotherapy or EGFR inhibitors, including a historical DOR of ~6 to ~7 months from antiPD-1 combined with chemotherapy in 1L HNSCC1-4

Efti increases Biological Activity
• A statistically significant increase in absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), measured as an exploratory biomarker, was seen in the E+P arm as shown in the graphic below, indicating an effective eftiinduced immune response in this randomised setting
ALC increase is in line with data from other Phase II trials evaluating efti in combination with chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer or pembrolizumab in non-small cell lung cancer5-6

Efti continues to have favourable safety profile
• Efti in combination with pembrolizumab continues to have a favourable safety profile with no new safety signals observed
o Discontinuation rate from treatment emergent adverse events was similar for both E+P (4.3%) and for pembrolizumab alone (4.4%)
o Unlike other combinations with anti-PD-1 therapy, E+P continues to have a comparable safety profile to pembrolizumab alone other than injection site reactions as expected with efti’s subcutaneous delivery.

Additionally, E+P drives a high ORR and Disease Control Rate (DCR) in 1L HNSCC patients regardless of PD-L1 expression. In Cohorts A and B together (N=89), E+P achieved a 33.7% ORR (34.8% including one partial response reported after data cut-off) including 31 patients in Cohort B with negative PD-L1 (CPS <1). E+P also achieved a higher DCR compared to pembrolizumab monotherapy across all PD-L1 expression levels, with a consistent increase from 58.1% DCR in CPS <1, to 69.0% DCR in CPS 1-19, to 75.9% DCR in CPS ≥20.

This new data adds to the body of evidence that efti’s activation of antigen-presenting cells provides a strong boost to the immune system, enhancing the potential of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) such as KEYTRUDA. As the only MHC Class II agonist in clinical development today, efti generates a broad anti-cancer immune response in combination with ICIs regardless of PD-L1 expression, including for patients with negative PD-L1 expression, in a unique and safe manner across multiple different cancers.