Imugene advances phase one study of ‘cancer-killing’ virus
The first patients in the third cohort of Imugene’s VAXINIA monotherapy trial have been dosed.
Clinical stage immune-oncology company Imugene (ASX: IMU) has announced it has started dosing a third cohort of patients in the intravenous (IV) and intratumoral (IT) arms of a monotherapy dose escalation trial of its cancer-killing virus known as VAXINIA.
The trial is part of the company’s phase one study evaluating the safety of the novel virus in treating metastatic advanced solid tumours (MAST).
Alongside the monotherapy trial, the first cohort in a combination trial of VAXINIA and Pembrolizumab have now been dosed.
“Still being less than 12 months since the very first patients were dosed, we’re now well advanced on amassing the critical data we require to publish on the outcomes of this study, and we remain very positive on the potential benefit to patients,” Imugene managing director and chief executive officer Leslie Chong said.
MAST trial progresses
The phase one MAST trial began by delivering a low dose of VAXINIA to patients with metastatic or advanced solid tumours who have had at least two prior lines of standard of care treatment. The trial commenced last May and is expected to run for about two years while being funded from existing budgets and resources.
The oncolytic virus, developed by US cancer research centre City of Hope and licensed to Imugene in 2019, has been shown to shrink colon, lung, breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancer tumours in preclinical lab and animal models.
Imugene’s study aims to recruit up to 100 patients across approximately 10 trial sites in the United States and Australia.
Harnessing the body’s immune system
Imugene’s novel immunotherapies aim to harness the body’s immune system against tumours to potentially achieve a similar or greater affect than synthetically manufactured monoclonal antibody and other immunotherapies.
The company’s product pipeline includes multiple immunotherapy B-cell vaccine candidates and its oncolytic virotherapy (CF33, the platform from which VAXINIA was developed) aimed at treating a variety of cancers in combination with standard of care drugs and emerging immunotherapies such as CAR-T’s for solid tumours.