On March 9, 2021 Targovax ASA (OSE: TRVX), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing oncolytic viruses to target hard-to-treat solid tumors, reported that the US Patent Office has granted US Patent no 10,940,203 (Press release, Targovax, MAR 9, 2021, View Source [SID1234576289]). The patent covers the use of ONCOS-102 in combination with checkpoint inhibitors (CPI).
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Torbjørn Furuseth, Chief Financial Officer of Targovax, said: "We are delighted that this US patent has been granted, further strengthening Targovax’s intellectual property portfolio covering the very important combination of ONCOS-102 and anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitors. The results from our melanoma trial presented in December 2020, confirmed ONCOS-102’s ability to turn refractory tumors into response. Securing this patent protects our innovative oncolytic immunotherapy platform and strengthens our market position."
In December 2020 Targovax announced that the combination of ONCOS-102 and checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) demonstrated 35% best objective response rate (ORR) in anti-PD1 refractory malignant melanoma patients. Systemic effects were also observed in multiple patients, including two examples where a non-injected lesion completely regressed. In this open label phase 1 trial the combination of ONCOS-102 and the anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab has been tested in patients with advanced, unresectable melanoma who have had disease progression despite treatment with anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitor. This is a particularly challenging patient population, which is refractory to approved immunotherapies and has few treatment alternatives available.
Targovax’s lead product candidate, ONCOS-102, is a genetically modified oncolytic adenovirus, which has been engineered to selectively infect cancer cells and activate the immune system. On the back of very encouraging data in several indications, in monotherapy and in multiple combination, the planned development steps for ONCOS-102 is a registrational-directed trial in checkpoint inhibitor refractory melanoma.