On October 21, 2018 Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPTX) reported its clinical data from its ongoing Phase I/II study of DKN-01 in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients with advanced esophagogastric cancer at the European Society for Molecular Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2018 Annual Congress (Press release, Leap Therapeutics, OCT 21, 2018, View Source [SID1234530017]).
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Leap will host a live conference call and webcast on Monday, October 22 at 8:00 AM US Eastern Time / 2:00 PM Central European Time, with Samuel Klempner, MD, Director, Precision Medicine Program, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Klempner will describe his experience with patients in the study.
Clinical Data Presented at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper)
Midway through the study, the combination of DKN-01 and pembrolizumab has demonstrated promising clinical activity with a 23.5% overall response rate and 58.8% disease control rate in evaluable gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer patients who have been heavily pretreated and have not had prior anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy (PD-1/PD-L1 naïve). The combination has generated durable responses in subgroups less likely to respond to pembrolizumab monotherapy, for example, patients whose tumors are microsatellite stable (MSS) and/or PD-L1 negative. The combination of DKN-01 and pembrolizumab may have additive clinical benefit through the targeting of both innate and adaptive immunity. Data to date suggest that elevated tumor expression of DKK1 may correlate with better patient outcomes. Biomarker analyses are underway to guide future clinical development in gastroesophageal malignancies.
Esophagogastric Cancer Clinical Trial (P102)
The esophagogastric cancer clinical trial (P102) is a multipart study of DKN-01 as a monotherapy and in combination with paclitaxel or pembrolizumab. The arm evaluating DKN- 01 plus pembrolizumab includes both dose escalation and dose confirmation cohorts and is designed to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of the combination. Data from the monotherapy and paclitaxel arms of the study have been presented previously and will be updated later in the year.
As of the September 26, 2018 cut-off date for the presentation, forty-five patients have been enrolled in the DKN-01 plus pembrolizumab study, thirty-eight PD-1/PD-L1 naïve and seven refractory to PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. Two of the patients were enrolled in the 150mg DKN-01 dose, and forty-three patients at the 300mg DKN-01 dose. Leap expects that the PD-1/PD-L1 naïve group will complete enrollment before the end of 2018.
DKN-01 plus Keytruda
Clinical Results as of September 26, 2018
300mg DKN-01
Anti-PD1/PD-L1 Naïve
Patients
Response Rate
Disease
Control
Rate
Partial Response
Stable Disease
Progressive Disease
All responding patients in the study had MSS tumors. The overall response rate for Keytruda monotherapy in gastric or gastroesophageal junction patients with non-microsatellite instability high tumors in the KN-059 (n = 167) and KN-061 (n = 281) studies was 9.0% and 9.3%, respectively.
When this study is complete, Leap expects to choose an indication for a larger, controlled clinical study.
DKN-01 Clinical Perspectives Conference Call and Webcast:
On Monday, October 22, 2018 at 8:00AM ET/2:00PM CET, Leap will be hosting a conference call and webcast for the investment community. To access the conference call, please dial (866) 589-0108 (US/Canada Toll-Free) or (409) 231-2048 (international) and refer to conference ID 1249999. The presentation will also be webcast live and will be available under "Events & Presentations" in the Investor section of Leap’s website, View Source A replay of the webcast will be available on Leap’s website approximately two hours after the event and will be available for a limited time.