On April 10, 2021 iTeos Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITOS), clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery and development of a new generation of highly differentiated immuno-oncology therapeutics for patients, reported a presentation featuring preliminary clinical data from 22 adult patients in the ongoing Phase 1/2a trial of its anti-TIGIT antibody, EOS-448, at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2021, taking place virtually April 10-15 (Press release, iTeos Therapeutics, APR 10, 2021, View Source [SID1234577846]). The presentation highlights initial findings from the completed dose escalation monotherapy portion of the trial, indicating a favorable tolerability profile and early signs of clinical activity in advanced cancers.

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"We are pleased to share these data showing promising preliminary signs of clinical activity and a favorable tolerability profile with our anti-TIGIT antibody, EOS-448, in patients with advanced cancers," said Joanne Jenkins Lager, M.D., chief medical officer of iTeos Therapeutics. "The results support our excitement around TIGIT as a therapeutic target capable of harnessing the immune system to treat patients with advanced, difficult to treat cancers. We believe the depletion of TIGIT+ suppressive and exhausted cells shown at even the lowest tested dose provides evidence of engagement of the FcγR, and therefore the potential of EOS-448 to activate multiple immune mechanisms. Based on these encouraging results, we are enrolling a total of 40 patients in this study to evaluate the effects of EOS-448 within the tumor. We are advancing EOS-448 into the next stage of clinical development as both a monotherapy and in combination for the treatment of multiple indications, with the goal of improving outcomes for people with advanced cancers."

Summary of the Data Presented

The objective of the dose escalation portion of the ongoing EOS-448 trial, presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper), is to evaluate primary objectives of safety and tolerability, and secondary objectives of pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD), and antitumor activity of EOS-448 as a monotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumor cancers. As of the data cut-off (December 31, 2020), the trial had enrolled 22 advanced cancer patients with solid tumors for whom no standard treatment was available. The patients received EOS-448 intravenously (IV) once every two weeks (Q2W) or once every four weeks (Q4W) according to their dose and schedule allocation. Doses of 20, 70, 200, 700 mg Q2W and 1400 mg Q4W were evaluated. Since the data cut-off for the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) poster, as of March 9, 2021, an additional 11 patients have received single agent EOS-448. In addition to the five dose levels which were described at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper), patients have also received doses of 400mg Q4w and 700mg Q4w.

EOS-448 was generally well-tolerated at all tested doses in patients with advanced cancer. Preliminary evidence of clinical activity as a monotherapy, including a confirmed partial response in one pembrolizumab-refractory melanoma patient and disease stabilization in nine patients, was also observed. The most common treatment related adverse events were itching, infusion-related reactions, fatigue, rash and fever, and one treatment related serious adverse event, a grade 2 systemic inflammatory response, was observed. As of March 9, 2020, two additional treatment-related serious events have been reported: Grade 2 Systemic Inflammatory Response and Grade 3 infusion-related reaction.

PK assessments indicated a linear and dose-proportional response and PD assessments showed complete target engagement. Biomarker analyses showed evidence of FcγR engagement, as demonstrated by a reduction in suppressive immune cells and immune cells considered to be exhausted in the blood, including TIGIT+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and TIGIT+ CD8 T cells, with only a slight reduction in the total CD8+ T cell count. A shift towards a more functional immune response was observed, with a two-fold increase in the ratio of CD8+ T cells to Treg and a four-fold increase in the ratio of CD8+ TIGIT- T cells to CD8+ TIGIT+ T cells.

"I am highly encouraged by these initial results from the EOS-448 trial, particularly the clinically meaningful response to treatment in the pembrolizumab-refractory melanoma patient," said Mario Sznol, M.D., professor of medicine and leader, Melanoma/RCC Disease-Associated Research Team, at Yale University. "The treatment of patients who develop resistance to checkpoint inhibitors is challenging in a number of tumor types, and these data give us hope that EOS-448 could provide benefit in adult solid tumor patients who don’t respond to or who progress on current checkpoint inhibitors."

The e-poster and abstract can be accessed on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) conference website. The abstract and presentation details are as follows:

Title: Preliminary data from Phase I first-in-human study of EOS884448, a novel potent anti-TIGIT antibody, monotherapy shows favorable tolerability profile and early signs of clinical activity in immune-resistant advanced cancer
Session: Phase I Clinical Trials
Poster #: CT118
Authors: Tom Van den Mooter, et al.

The Company will host a conference call and webcast to provide an overview of the data on Monday, April 12 at 8:00 a.m. EDT. Details are as follows:

Participant Dial-In: (833) 607-1661
International Dial-In: (914) 987-7874
Conference ID: 2888301
Webcast: View Source

The abstract was posted online at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Friday, April 9 and the e-poster launched at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Saturday, April 10 on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) conference website.

EOS-448 Further Clinical Development Plans
Based on these preliminary results, the Company plans to advance EOS-448 using combination trials in both checkpoint-naïve and resistant patients. These Phase 1b trials will assess the safety of EOS-448 in combination with pembrolizumab and in combination with iTeos novel agent inupadenant in patients with solid tumors, and as a monotherapy and in combination with an Immunomodulatory Drug (IMiD) in patients with multiple myeloma. Subsequent disease-specific Phase 2a trials are planned in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck cancer, melanoma, and myeloma. The Company is also planning for later-stage trials of EOS-448, including in combination with pembrolizumab.