NANOBIOTIX Announces Updated Preliminary Results From Phase 1 Pancreatic Cancer Trial and New Exploratory Analysis From Completed Phase 1 Head and Neck Cancer Trial at ESMO 2023

On October 23, 2023 NANOBIOTIX (Euronext: NANO –– NASDAQ: NBTX – the "Company"), a late-clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering physics-based approaches to expand treatment possibilities for patients with cancer, reported updated data from two presentations at the 2023 Annual Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) (Press release, Nanobiotix, OCT 23, 2023, View Source [SID1234636253]).

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POSTER #1631P: Phase 1 Study of Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)-guided NBTXR3 delivery activated by Radiotherapy (RT) for Locally Advanced or Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer (LAPC or BRPC)

The 5-year overall survival rate for patients with unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) remains less than 5%. Normally, these patients receive the combination of cytotoxic chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiation if no metastatic progression has occurred. Innovative new treatments that might extend survival and avoid additional harmful side effects are an urgent unmet need for this patient population.

With safety, feasibility, and the recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D) previously determined and reported, this presentation from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson) explored additional preliminary signals of efficacy from the ongoing Phase 1 study evaluating RT-activated NBTXR3 after cytotoxic chemotherapy for patients with LAPC to potentially inform next steps in clinical trial development.

An MD Anderson historical review of 243 patients treated with LAPC at the same center showed:

Normalization of the biomarker CA19-9, a surrogate indicator for longer survival, in approximately 17% of patients treated with the standard of care who had elevated CA19-9 levels at diagnosis (n=183)
Median Overall Survival (mOS) of 19.2 months in 144 patients who received cytotoxic chemotherapy followed by RT with or without concurrent or maintenance chemotherapy (80% received RT with concurrent chemotherapy)
Comparatively, preliminary data from 17 patients treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy followed by RT-activated NBTXR3 in the Phase 1 LAPC study show:

Normalization of CA19-9 in 42% of patients who had elevated levels at diagnosis (n=12)
An mOS of 23 months from diagnosis
The investigator concluded that these results suggest promising anti-tumor efficacy for NBTXR3 in LAPC.

"As we continue to execute our global development program for NBTXR3 across tumor types and therapeutic combinations in parallel with our collaborators, we view the consistently favorable safety profile for our localized therapeutic innovation as critical to the product candidate’s potential," said Louis Kayitalire, MD, chief medical officer at Nanobiotix. "Patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer are faced with poor survival and quality of life outcomes, and these preliminary efficacy and favorable safety data are an exciting indicator that NBTXR3 may present a promising new option."

ABSTRACT #5222: Antitumor Activity of the Radioenhancer NBTXR3 on Injected Lesions to Estimate Overall Survival: Exploratory Analyses from a Phase 1 in Cisplatin-Ineligible Locally Advanced HNSCC Patients

The previously reported final efficacy analysis of Study 102—a Phase 1 dose escalation and dose expansion study evaluating RT-activated NBTXR3 for elderly, frail patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer found that therapy was feasible, well tolerated with a favorable safety profile, and showed both prolonged Progression-Free Survival (PFS) and OS in a population characterized by negative prognostic factors.

This new exploratory analysis showed an mOS of 42.8 months in the 36 evaluable patients who had complete or partial response to NBTXR3 in the injected lesion (81.8%), compared to an mOS of 18.1 months observed in All Patients Treated (n=56), and 23.1 months in the total evaluable population (n=44), respectively. In addition, a positive correlation between Objective Response to RT-activated NBTXR3 in the injected lesion, Local Progression-Free Survival, and the extension of Overall Survival was observed.

These data suggest that the high rate of Objective Response to RT-activated NBTXR3 could potentially extend PFS and OS for elderly, frail patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.

"With the Phase 1 study now complete, our focus is to ensure that we learn everything we can to anticipate the potential results of NANORAY-312. Of particular note were the data we observed regarding the positive correlation between Objective Response to NBTXR3 in the injected lesion, Local Progression Free Survival, Duration of Response in the injected lesion, and extension of Overall Survival," said Professor Christophe Le Tourneau, MD, PhD, principal investigator for Study 102 and co-principal investigator for NANORAY-312. "Given the directional signals we observed in the exploratory analysis, the additional option to inject involved lymph nodes included in the design of the Phase 3, and the expected resemblance of the Phase 3 population to the evaluable population in the Phase 1, we see a strong opportunity to improve treatment outcomes for elderly patients with head and neck cancer in our ongoing registrational study."

About NBTXR3

NBTXR3 is a novel, potentially first-in-class oncology product composed of functionalized hafnium oxide nanoparticles that is administered via one-time intratumoral injection and activated by radiotherapy. Its proof-of-concept was achieved in soft tissue sarcomas for which the product received a European CE mark in 2019. The product candidate’s physical mechanism of action (MoA) is designed to induce significant tumor cell death in the injected tumor when activated by radiotherapy, subsequently triggering adaptive immune response and long-term anti-cancer memory. Given the physical MoA, Nanobiotix believes that NBTXR3 could be scalable across any solid tumor that can be treated with radiotherapy and across any therapeutic combination, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Radiotherapy-activated NBTXR3 is being evaluated across multiple solid tumor indications as a single agent or in combination with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, including in NANORAY-312—a global, randomized Phase 3 study in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell cancers. In February 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration granted regulatory Fast Track designation for the investigation of NBTXR3 activated by radiation therapy, with or without cetuximab, for the treatment of patients with locally advanced HNSCC who are not eligible for platinum-based chemotherapy—the same population being evaluated in the Phase 3 study.

Given the Company’s focus areas, and balanced against the scalable potential of NBTXR3, Nanobiotix has engaged in a collaboration strategy to expand development of the product candidate in parallel with its priority development pathways. Pursuant to this strategy, in 2019 Nanobiotix entered into a broad, comprehensive clinical research collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to sponsor several Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies evaluating NBTXR3 across tumor types and therapeutic combinations. In 2021, the Company announced an agreement with LianBio to expand development of NBTXR3 into Greater China and other Asian Markets, and in July 2023 Nanobiotix announced a license agreement for the global co-development and commercialization of NBTXR3 with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV.