On June 1, 2020 Immutep Limited (ASX: IMM; NASDAQ: IMMP) reported that new interim data from its ongoing Phase II TACTI-002 study (Press release, Immutep, JUN 1, 2020, View Source [SID1234560749]). This data relates to the cut-off date of 4 May 2020 and shows improving efficacy results. The results were presented as a poster short talk by trial investigator, Dr Enriqueta Felip, of Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain, at the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Virtual Annual Meeting. The poster presentation from Dr. Felip is available on the company’s website (click here).
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TACTI-002 is being conducted in collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA (known as "MSD" outside the United States and Canada). The study is evaluating the combination of the Company’s lead product candidate eftilagimod alpha ("efti" or "IMP321") with MSD’s KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in up to 109 patients with second line Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) or Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in first and second line.
Immutep CSO and CMO, Dr Frederic Triebel said: "TACTI-002 is generating increasingly promising data from both the NSCLC and HNSCC arms of study, as patients continue to receive efti in combination with KEYTRUDA. Remarkably, one HNSCC patient has even achieved a complete response, bringing the total response rate to an improved 39% in this arm. This is an early indication that the efti in combination with pembrolizumab may more than double the proportion of HNSCC patients that respond to pembrolizumab monotherapy, which is usually 18% or less1."
Trial investigator, Dr. Felip said: "It is encouraging to see that patients continue to receive benefit from the combination treatment. We now expect progression free survival to be more than 9 months for patients with 1st line NSCLC, significantly longer than the 5-6 months delivered by pembrolizumab monotherapy. We are alo seeing deeper responses in both arms with patients responding after a number of months of treatment. The improving data in both HNSCC and NSCLC patients supports the use of efti in combination with pembrolizumab as a promising new therapeutic option for patients."
Stage 1 Part A (1st line NSCLC, N=17):
iORR of 53%, with 9 out of 17 patients reporting a Partial Response (iPR) according to iRECIST.
71% (12/17) of patients with target lesion decrease (tumour shrinkage responses in all PD-L1 subgroups. 4 out of 9 patients with PRs had a Tumour Proportion Score less than 50% (typically less responsive to anti-PD-1 monotherapy such as pembrolizumab)
41% (7/17) of patients were still under treatment at data cut-off, indicating an estimated median PFS more than 9 months
All three PD-L1 subgroups present, indicating the trial is a PD-L1 all comer study
About the TACT-002 Trial
TACTI-002 (Two ACTive Immunotherapies) is being conducted in collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA (known as "MSD" outside the United States and Canada). The study is evaluating the combination of efti with MSD’s KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in up to 109 patients with second line head and neck squamous cell carcinoma or non-small cell lung cancer in first and second line.
The trial is a Phase II, Simon’s two-stage, non-comparative, open-label, single-arm, multicentre clinical study that is taking place in up to 12 study centres across the U.S., Europe, UK and Australia.
Patients participating in three parts:
Part A – First line Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), PD-X naive
Part B – Second line NSCLC, PD-X refractory
Part C – Second line Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC), PD-X naive
TACTI-002 is an all comer study in terms of PD-L1 status, a well-known predictive marker for response to pembrolizumab monotherapy especially in NSCLC. PD-L1 expression is typically reported in three groups for NSCLC: < 1%, 1-49% and ³50% (Tumour Proportion Score or TPS). Patients with a high PD-L1 status are typically more responsive to anti-PD-1 monotherapy such as pembrolizumab, whereas those with low PD-L1 status are overall significantly less responsive. Pembrolizumab monotherapy is registered in the US and the EU for first-line NSCLC patients with a TPS score ³1% (US) and ³50% (EU), reflecting 65% and 30% of all first line NSCLC patients, respectively.