On July 24, 2023 Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American and TASE: LCTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing allogeneic cell therapies for unmet medical needs, and Cancer Research UK, the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research, reported encouraging primary and secondary endpoint results from the recently completed clinical study of VAC2 in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Press release, Lineage Cell Therapeutics, JUL 24, 2023, View Source [SID1234633389]). The Phase 1 study was a first-in-human, open label, multi-center trial designed to investigate safety, immunogenicity, and survival in patients with advanced NSCLC (defined as metastatic or locally advanced disease) when administered the allogeneic dendritic cell (DC) vaccine VAC2 (NCT03371485). VAC2 DC cells have been engineered to present hTERT, a tumor-associated antigen found almost exclusively in cancer cells, and it is postulated that VAC2 will stimulate an immunogenic anti-tumor CD4+/CD8+ T cell response toward hTERT expressed on tumor cells. All eight subjects enrolled and treated completed the full per protocol vaccination regimen, which consisted of six-consecutive weekly intradermal (ID) injections of 1 x 107 viable VAC2 cells. Overall, VAC2 was well-tolerated, there were no unexpected SAEs, and there were no dose limiting toxicities.
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"The unmet medical need in refractory NSCLC is significant and results from recent clinical trials support the investigation of cancer vaccines as a promising approach to treating this disease. The antigen-loaded VAC2 product candidate appeared to be well tolerated in all treated patients and the adverse events which we did observe were modest and expected from a therapy designed to generate a robust and durable immune response to tumor antigens. The immunogenicity data reported to date are also encouraging and supportive of the clinical observations we noted in the patients," stated Professor Gary Middleton MB, BS, MD, FRCP, Professor of Medical Oncology, Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, The University of Birmingham, UK.
Brian Culley, Chief Executive Officer of Lineage, added: "The conclusion of this partnered study represents an important milestone for Lineage’s allogeneic cell therapy pipeline. We have completed clinical studies using three separate cell types in dramatically different diseases; geographic atrophy secondary to dry-form age-related macular degeneration, spinal cord injury, and most recently, NSCLC. The overall safety and efficacy data from these studies affirm our belief in the potential for allogeneic cell therapy to address some of the most serious medical needs, which unfortunately remain unaddressed by conventional approaches. Our goal is to determine how best to advance and expand not only the VAC platform as a delivery vehicle for tumor-associated and neoantigen vaccine delivery to resistant tumors, but also our overall approach to differentiated cell transplants as an emerging branch of medicine."
"Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK and unfortunately, only 10% of patients survive their disease for 10 years or more, so we desperately need better treatment options. We are excited to see these initial VAC2 clinical data from a first-in-human application in what is the most common form of lung cancer and are hopeful that we can continue our collaborative work with Lineage on the next phase of development for this promising treatment approach," added Nigel Blackburn, PhD, Cancer Research UK’s Director of Drug Development.
On May 7th, 2020, Lineage completed an early exercise of its option to acquire data from Cancer Research UK and assumed responsibility for further development of the VAC2 product candidate as well as future development opportunities derived from the VAC platform, while Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development completed the clinical study in NSCLC. Lineage is currently reviewing these data, as well as several tertiary and exploratory endpoint assessments, and will determine next steps to evaluate VAC2 following these analyses. Lineage, Cancer Research UK, and the participating investigators intend to present these data at future medical and scientific conferences and submit publications to relevant journals for peer review.