On December 10, 2020 Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLCM), a leader in developing novel, controllable cellular immunotherapies for cancers, reported enrollment and apheresis of the first patient in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for BPX-603 in patients with tumors that express human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) (Press release, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, DEC 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234572614]). BPX-603 is Bellicum’s first dual switch GoCAR-T product candidate that incorporates the company’s iMC activation and CaspaCIDe safety switch technologies.
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"Initiation of this Phase 1/2 dose escalation clinical trial for BPX-603 denotes an important achievement for Bellicum and represents our second GoCAR-T program to enter the clinic," stated Rick Fair, President and CEO. "This program may provide further validation of our technology’s ability to enhance both the efficacy and safety of immune cell therapy against solid tumors. We are excited to advance this potentially life-saving treatment approach into the clinic."
BPX-603 Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial Design
This Phase 1/2, open-label, multicenter, non-randomized study will investigate the safety, tolerability, and clinical activity of HER2-specific dual-switch CAR-T cells, BPX-603, administered with rimiducid. The trial will enroll patients with previously treated, locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors with HER2 amplification or overexpression. The initial dose escalation phase of the trial is designed to evaluate safety and identify the Phase 2 dose of BPX-603 administered with rimiducid at a fixed dose of 0.4 mg/kg per infusion. The Phase 2 portion of the trial will assess the safety, pharmacodynamics, and clinical activity of BPX-603 in various HER2+ solid tumors. Tumor types that may be studied include gastric, breast, ovarian, endometrial, and colorectal.
About BPX-603
HER2 is a validated antigen for cancer therapies and academic CAR-T cell clinical studies have shown evidence of modest antitumor activity. BPX-603 was designed to improve upon these efforts, primarily through incorporation of the inducible co-activation domain MyD88/CD40, or "iMC". MC signaling is believed to boost effector cell proliferation and survival, enhance functional persistence by resisting exhaustion and the suppressive tumor microenvironment, and stimulate the cancer patient’s own immune system. Additionally, Bellicum’s dual-switch technology—which enables the clinician to either activate or eliminate GoCAR-T cells with the administration of small molecules—is designed to enhance real-time control of both efficacy and safety.