On December 15, 2015 NewLink Genetics Corporation (NASDAQ:NLNK), a biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of discovering, developing and commercializing novel immuno-oncology product candidates, including both cellular immunotherapy and checkpoint inhibitor platforms, to improve the lives of patients with cancer, reported the completion of enrollment in the Phase 3 PILLAR (Pancreatic Immunotherapy with algenpantucel-L for Locally Advanced non-Resectable cancer) clinical trial of algenpantucel-L for patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer (Press release, NewLink Genetics, DEC 15, 2015, View Source [SID:1234508574]). Total enrollment in the study exceeded 300 patients. Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo! "I am delighted to be part of this important study, with the potential for helping patients with pancreatic cancer in clear need of pioneering immunotherapies like algenpantucel-L," said Harish Lavu, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University and a lead investigator for PILLAR.
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"Completion of enrollment in this large phase 3 trial combined with our previous success enrolling 722 patients with resected pancreatic cancer in the IMPRESS registration trial demonstrates our ongoing commitment to patients with this disease," said Charles Link, Jr., M.D., Chairman and CEO of NewLink Genetics. "With the addition of our trial of indoximod, one of our IDO pathway inhibitors, in combination with chemotherapy for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, we now have clinical trials in all stages of this disease for which patients have very limited treatment options."
About the PILLAR Trial
PILLAR is a Phase 3, 1:1 randomized trial assessing overall survival for patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer treated with a regimen of FOLFIRINOX or gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel in combination with algenpantucel-L cellular immunotherapy versus standard of care chemotherapy alone.
About HyperAcute Cellular Immunotherapy
NewLink Genetics’ HyperAcute Cellular Immunotherapy platform creates novel biologic products that are designed to stimulate the human immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. HyperAcute Cellular Immunotherapy product candidates are composed of human cancer cells that are tumor specific, but not patient specific. These cells have been modified to express alpha-gal, a carbohydrate for which humans have pre-existing immunity. These alpha-gal-modified cells stimulate a rapid and powerful human immune response that educates the body’s natural defenses to seek out and destroy cancer cells. The objective of HyperAcute immunotherapies is to elicit an antitumor response by "educating" the immune system to attack a patient’s own cancer cells. HyperAcute immunotherapies do not require any tissue from individual patients and use intact whole cells rather than cell fragments or purified proteins. We believe these unique properties of HyperAcute Cellular Immunotherapy products result in the stimulation of a robust immune response.
NewLink’s lead product candidate, algenpantucel-L, is also being studied in a Phase 3 trial (IMPRESS: "Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Resectable cancer Survival Study") under a Special Protocol Assessment with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This trial involves 722 patients with surgically resected pancreatic cancer.
NewLink has several HyperAcute Cellular Immunotherapy product candidates focused on patients with multiple tumor types including lung cancer, melanoma and renal cell cancer.