On November 9, 2020 Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq: PHIO), a biotechnology company developing the next generation of immuno-oncology therapeutics based on its proprietary self-delivering RNAi (INTASYL) therapeutic platform, reported positive data from an in vivo study that shows the strong antitumoral efficacy of individual INTASYL pipeline products, including PH-762, PH-790 and PH-804, can be further improved by combining them in a single therapeutic (Press release, Phio Pharmaceuticals, NOV 9, 2020, View Source [SID1234570314]). These data were presented during The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting – Abstract 198: "Combination intratumoral treatment with INTASYL self-delivering RNAi targeting TIGIT and PD-1/PD-L1 improves tumor control compared to monotherapy in a CT26 model of murine colorectal cancer ".
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These results build on previously published data showing that intratumoral delivery of individual INTASYL compounds inhibited tumor growth. The data presented at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) 2020 demonstrated that such antitumoral effect can be significantly improved by combining different INTASYL compounds. Therefore, the Company believes the use of our pipeline products in combination show great promise in the treatment of solid tumors.
The Company’s pipeline programs PH-762, PH-790 and PH-804 are INTASYL compounds designed to silence the expression of PD-1, PD-L1 and TIGIT, respectively, which are proteins linked to reduced immune cell function in cancer patients. Previously, a series of preclinical in vivo studies in tumor models were conducted and the resulting data showed dose-dependent attenuated tumor growth for the INTASYL compounds compared to control groups. The new data shows that whereas in vivo efficacy of INTASYL monotherapy was analogous to that of systemically delivered antibody therapy for each target, combining INTASYL targeting TIGIT + PD-1 or TIGIT + PD-L1 inhibited tumor growth even further, without having a negative impact on the tolerability of the treatment.
"Recent study results with systemic immune checkpoint blockade antibody therapies shows promise of combination therapy, but the serious immune-related adverse events seen with such antibody therapy results in significant hurdles for realizing their maximum clinical potential when these antibodies are used in combination. INTASYL therapies administered intratumorally represent an attractive alternative strategy," said Dr. Simon Fricker, Phio’s VP of Research. "Whereas our prior monotherapy data already looked very promising, the new combination results are even more exciting, especially considering that multiple INTASYL compounds can be easily and cost effectively combined in a single therapeutic."
A poster further detailing the data presented at the SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) 2020 Virtual Scientific Program will be made available under the "Investors – Events and Presentations" section of the Company’s website (click here).