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Amplia Therapeutics achieves second complete response with narmafotinib in pancreatic cancer trial

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By Colin Hay - 
Amplia Therapeutics ASX ATX second complete response ACCENT trial
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Amplia Therapeutics (ASX: ATX) continues to make excellent progress with focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor narmafotinib, its best-in-class drug candidate for pancreatic cancer.

New data from the company’s ongoing ACCENT trial investigating narmafotinib has further confirmed its potential.

After Amplia’s announcement earlier this week that a separate patient had achieved a pathological complete response (CR) in the trial, the study has recorded a second patient with a confirmed (CR) out of the 55 enrolled in the trial.

Rare outcome

Chief executive officer Dr Chris Burns said a confirmed CR is a formal designation of response where there is a complete disappearance of all tumour lesions that is maintained for around two months.

He said this is a rare outcome in advanced pancreatic cancer where the disease has spread to other parts of the body.

“For example, the seminal study demonstrating efficacy of the chemotherapies gemcitabine and Abraxane in advanced pancreatic cancer reported only one CR out of 431 patients,” Dr Burns said.

“To see a second complete response in the ACCENT trial is really wonderful news, particularly given how rarely these are observed in advanced pancreatic cancer.”

Deadly cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the eighth most-diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death in Australia, with analysts forecasting approximately 4,600 new cases for 2024.

While survival rates are increasing, with a five-year relative survival rate of 13% between 2015 and 2019, it remains a serious diagnosis with an extremely poor prognosis.

Narmafotinib’s status is as an inhibitor of FAK, a protein overexpressed in pancreatic cancer and a drug target gaining increasing attention for its role in solid tumours.

“Along with the pathological CR announced earlier in the week, this outcome further demonstrates the promising activity narmafotinib, on top of standard-of-care, is showing in pancreatic cancer,” Dr Burns added.