On October 16, 2019 4SC AG (4SC, FSE Prime Standard: VSC) reported a collaboration with the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Stichting Het Nederlands Kanker Instituut (NKI) – Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Ziekenhuis) in Amsterdam to evaluate domatinostat in combination with checkpoint blockade in a "Multicenter Phase 1b Study testing the Neoadjuvant Combination of Domatinostat, Nivolumab, and Ipilimumab, in RECIST 1.1-measurable Stage III Cutaneous or Unknown Primary Melanoma – DONIMI" (Press release, 4SC, OCT 16, 2019, View Source [SID1234542306]).
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Immunotherapy, and particularly checkpoint inhibitors like anti-PD-1 (e.g. Nivolumab) and anti-CTLA4 (Ipilimumab), are increasingly investigated not only in the advanced unresectable or metastatic setting but also in earlier stages of disease. The rationale for such treatment is to activate the immune system before resection of the tumor to generate an immune memory and prevent recurrence of the disease. On the basis of some encouraging data published by the International Neoadjuvant Melanoma Consortium (INMC; View Source), innovative combination approaches will now be tested to optimize the treatment in a more personalized manner where domatinostat is a promising combination partner.
Jason Loveridge, Ph.D., CEO of 4SC: "It is getting clearer and clearer that immunotherapy for cancer is most effective when used early in disease progression and we believe the neoadjuvant setting offers a great potential for protecting patients from recurrence of their malignancy after resection, potentially leading to a much higher number of cured patients with resectable, high-risk melanoma. Prof. Blank and his collaborators within the INMC have already made remarkable progress in this highly innovative field in melanoma and the NKI is a worldwide leading cancer center in the treatment of melanoma and other indications in the neoadjuvant setting. We are grateful entering such collaboration with the NKI and looking forward to the initiation of the DONIMI study in the near future."
Prof. Dr. Christian Blank, NKI: "It is exciting to see what we have achieved with neoadjuvant immunotherapy in melanoma within the INMC during the last few years. However there´s still a way to go to implement a standard neoadjuvant treatment in melanoma. Additional combination approaches to modulate the tumor microenvironment and the patients´ immune system remains a priority so as to optimize and personalize treatment for patients with melanoma, and potentially impact the treatment of patients with other cancers. For example, we do not know yet which patients require double neoadjuvant checkpoint inhibition and who can be treated with neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade alone. Based on preclinical and early clinical data, epigenetic modulation with domatinostat in combination with checkpoint blockade might be a promising approach in the neoadjuvant setting. In the DONIMI study, Domatinostat will be one of the first compounds tested in a personalized neoadjuvant combination trial implemented by INMC researchers from Sydney and Amsterdam. We are much looking forward to enroll the first patients later this year."