On December 8, 217 Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:FATE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders, reported that the first subject has been treated in the APOLLO study of FATE-NK100 in women with ovarian cancer resistant to, or recurrent on, platinum-based treatment (Press release, Fate Therapeutics, DEC 8, 2017, View Source [SID1234522461]). The clinical trial is intended to evaluate the safety and determine the maximum dose of FATE-NK100, the Company’s first-in-class, donor-derived adaptive memory natural killer (NK) cell cancer therapy, as a monotherapy when administered intraperitoneally in the outpatient setting. A clinical assessment of patients with ovarian cancer has previously shown that endogenous NK cells within the peritoneal fluid exhibit an altered phenotype with reduced cytolytic function.

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"Women today often are treated with intraperitoneal chemotherapy, and the administration of FATE-NK100 directly within the peritoneal cavity is an exciting therapeutic strategy to restore NK cell function, promote persistence and inhibit tumor growth," said Melissa A. Geller, M.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health, Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Minnesota and the lead investigator of the clinical trial at the Masonic Cancer Center. "Ovarian cancer is a disease of middle age women, and over 60% of women with ovarian cancer initially present with advanced disease. For these women, the rate of recurrence is around 70%, and there is an urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies since standard treatments in the recurrent setting provide dismal response rates especially in platinum resistant disease."

The APOLLO study is an open-label, accelerated dose-escalation, Phase 1 clinical trial of FATE-NK100 in subjects with recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Up to three dose levels of FATE-NK100 are intended to be assessed to evaluate safety and determine the maximum dose. Other endpoints to be evaluated include objective response rate at 28 days, and progression-free and overall survival at six months. Subjects with stable disease or better at Day 28 following infusion may be considered for retreatment with FATE-NK100.

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women, and is the deadliest of gynecologic cancers. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2017, about 22,440 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed and 14,080 women will die of ovarian cancer in the United States. While a high proportion of women respond to initial platinum-based chemotherapy, around 70% of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer will have a recurrence. While recurrent ovarian cancer is treatable, it is rarely curable and there is a significant need for more effective, better-tolerated therapies.

About FATE-NK100
FATE-NK100 is a first-in-class, donor-derived natural killer (NK) cell cancer immunotherapy comprised of adaptive memory NK cells, a highly specialized and functionally distinct subset of activated NK cells expressing the maturation marker CD57. Higher frequencies of CD57+ NK cells in the peripheral blood or tumor microenvironment in cancer patients have been linked to better clinical outcomes. In preclinical studies, FATE-NK100 has demonstrated enhanced anti-tumor activity across a broad range of hematologic and solid tumors, with augmented cytokine production, improved persistence and increased resistance to immune checkpoint pathways compared to other NK cell therapies that are being clinically administered today. FATE-NK100 is produced through a feeder-free, seven-day manufacturing process during which NK cells sourced from a healthy donor are activated ex vivo with pharmacologic modulators.

About APOLLO
APOLLO is an open-label, accelerated dose-escalation, Phase 1 clinical trial in subjects with recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer designed to evaluate the safety and determine the maximum dose of a single infusion of FATE-NK100 as a monotherapy when administered via intraperitoneal catheter after out-patient chemotherapy followed by sub-cutaneous IL-2 administration. Up to three dose levels of FATE-NK100 are intended to be assessed (1×107 cells/kg, >1×107 cells/kg to ≤3×107 cells/kg, and up to 1×108 cells/kg). In the event a dose limiting toxicity is observed, the clinical trial will convert to a 3+3 design. A ten-subject expansion cohort is expected to be enrolled at the maximum dose level. Other endpoints include objective response rate at 28 days, and progression-free and overall survival at six months, post-infusion of FATE-NK100. The clinical trial is being conducted at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota as an investigator-initiated study.