On July 24, 2017 Novocure (NASDAQ:NVCR) reported a new arm for a phase 1b study to evaluate the safety of marizomib and temozolomide in combination with Optune, Novocure’s Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) delivery system, as adjuvant treatment for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) following radiation therapy with concurrent temozolomide (Press release, NovoCure, JUL 24, 2017, View Source [SID1234519860]). The trial is the first to study Optune in combination with an investigational drug.
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Marizomib is a novel, brain-penetrant proteasome inhibitor developed by Triphase Accelerator Corporation and acquired by Celgene Corporation. Celgene is responsible for marizomib’s development.
"This collaboration marks an important first step toward testing Optune with a promising new investigational compound for the treatment of GBM," said Principal Investigator Dr. Roger Stupp, Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. "Optune is the first treatment in over a decade to improve survival in GBM. I believe that combining Optune with new pharmacologic treatments in clinical trials, like this phase 1b study, will help advance our understanding of how to treat this devastating disease."
Celgene and Triphase modified their current phase 1b multicenter, open-label study of marizomib in combination with temozolomide and radiotherapy in patients with grade IV malignant gliomas to include Optune. A cohort of 12 GBM patients will be treated with Optune in combination with marizomib and temozolomide after initial treatment with radiation and temozolomide has been completed.
The primary objective for the Optune portion of the study is to determine the safety of the combination of marizomib and temozolomide with the addition of Optune in patients entering the adjuvant treatment phase. Secondary objectives for the Optune portion of the study include assessing preliminary clinical activity of the combination of Optune, marizomib and temozolomide in patients entering adjuvant therapy, progression-free survival and overall survival. The protocol has been submitted to an institutional review board, and this arm of the trial is expected to open in the third quarter of 2017.
"We believe TTFields has the potential to be an excellent development candidate in combination with other solid tumor cancer treatments," said Dr. Eilon Kirson, Novocure’s Chief Science Officer and Head of Research and Development. "As innovators in cancer treatment, we know collaboration is essential to improve patient outcomes. We hope this is the first collaboration of many."
Tumor Treating Fields in combination with temozolomide and marizomib is experimental for the treatment of glioblastoma. Limited by law to investigational use only.