TESARO Announces Immuno-Oncology Data Presentations at SITC 2018 Annual Meeting

On November 9, 2018 TESARO, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSRO), an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company, today presented initial data from the Phase 1 AMBER trial of TSR-022 (anti-TIM-3 antibody) in combination with TSR-042 (anti-PD-1 antibody) in patients who have progressed following anti-PD-1 therapy treatment, in an oral session during the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) Conference in Washington, D.C (Press release, TESARO, NOV 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234531194]). Additionally, Phase 1 GARNET data of TSR-042 in patients with previously treated recurrent/advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and Phase 1 monotherapy dose-escalation data for TSR-033 (anti-LAG-3 antibody) in a broad range of solid tumors were also highlighted in poster presentations.

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"The initial AMBER data featured at this year’s SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) conference are the first clinical data to be presented for an anti-TIM-3 antibody in combination with an anti-PD-1 antibody and demonstrated that the combination of TSR-022 and TSR-042 is active and generally well tolerated in NSCLC and melanoma patients who have progressed following anti-PD-1 treatment," stated Mary Lynne Hedley, Ph.D., President and COO of TESARO. "Additionally, updated results from the GARNET trial demonstrated robust clinical activity of TSR-042 in previously treated, anti-PD-1 naive patients with recurrent or advanced NSCLC, the vast majority of which had TPS <50%. We look forward to presenting additional data from these studies in 2019."

A Phase 1 study of TSR-022, an anti-TIM-3 monoclonal antibody, in combination with TSR-042, an anti-PD-1 antibody (AMBER) [Oral presentation; Abstract: 10877; Poster: O21]

AMBER is an ongoing, open-label, Phase 1 study of TSR-022, an anti-TIM-3 antibody, in monotherapy or in combination with TSR-042, an anti-PD-1 antibody. The TSR-022 and TSR-042 combination portion of the study consists of dose-escalation and expansion cohorts. Data presented at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) included safety and efficacy data from the combination dose-escalation and two expansion cohorts: NSCLC patients that had progressed following anti-PD-1 treatment and melanoma patients that had progressed following anti-PD-1 treatment. Patients were treated with 100 milligrams or 300 milligrams of TSR-022 in combination with a fixed dose of TSR-042 (500 milligrams) every 3 weeks. A dose response trend was observed in both the NSCLC and melanoma cohorts based on greater clinical activity observed in patients treated with a 300 milligram dose of TSR-022 as compared to a 100 milligram dose.

At the time of data cutoff, 39 patients with NSCLC who had progressed following anti-PD-1 treatment had received treatment with the TSR-022 and TSR-042 combination, including 14 patients at the 100 milligram dose and 25 patients at the 300 milligram dose of TSR-022. Among the 11 evaluable patients treated with the 100 milligram dose of TSR-022, 1 had a confirmed partial response by immune related RECIST (irRECIST) criteria and 3 had stable disease. Among the 20 evaluable patients treated with the 300 milligram dose of TSR-022, 3 had confirmed partial responses and 8 had stable disease. All objective responses were in PD-L1 positive (TPS ≥ 1%) patients, indicating potential for biomarker enrichment. Sixteen patients had known PD-L1 positive tumors. Among the 12 evaluable patients with PD-L1 positive tumors treated with either the 100 or 300 milligram dose of TSR-022, 4 patients had confirmed partial responses (3 responses ongoing) and 6 had stable disease.

Preliminary safety findings indicate that the combination of TSR-022 and TSR-042 was generally well-tolerated. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed that a 300 mg dose is not sufficient to maintain maximal pharmacodynamic effect and suggests that a 900 milligram dose of TSR-022 should maintain a maximal effect in the vast majority of patients for the duration of the Q3W dosing interval. Patients with NSCLC who have progressed following anti-PD-1 treatment are currently being enrolled in the NSCLC expansion cohort at the 900 milligram dose of TSR-022 in combination with TSR-042. Additional data from this cohort (900 milligram dose) and the melanoma cohort (100 and 300 milligram doses) are expected in 2019.

GARNET: Preliminary safety, efficacy, pharmacokinetic, and biomarker characterization from a Phase 1 clinical trial of TSR-042 (anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody) in patients with previously treated recurrent/advanced NSCLC [Poster: P326; Abstract: 10853]

GARNET is an ongoing Phase 1 study evaluating TSR-042 as a monotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumors. The ongoing cohort expansion portion of GARNET is evaluating TSR-042 at a dose of 500 milligrams every 3 weeks for the first 4 cycles and 1,000 milligrams every 6 weeks thereafter in four cohorts: MSI (microsatellite instability)-high endometrial cancer, MSI-high non-endometrial cancer, MSS (microsatellite-stable) endometrial cancer and previously treated recurrent / advanced anti-PD-1 naïve NSCLC. Data presented at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) included safety and efficacy data from the cohort of patients with NSCLC, which is fully enrolled.

At the time of data cutoff, 67 patients with previously treated recurrent / advanced anti-PD-1 naive NSCLC had received treatment with TSR-042, and 47 patients had at least one post-baseline tumor assessment or had discontinued treatment prior to first baseline assessment. Among these 47 patients, 15 had partial responses (including 2 unconfirmed responses that have not yet progressed) by irRECIST criteria for an overall response rate (ORR) of 31.9%; 14 additional patients (29.8%) had stable disease. Responses were durable and nine of the 15 responses are ongoing (60%).

The majority of patients (32 of 34; 94%) with available PD-L1 status had TPS <50% and clinical activity of TSR-042 was observed across all PD-L1 TPS categories. Among the 32 patients with low PD-L1 expression, 13 patients had TPS 1-49%, of which 5 had partial responses (ORR of 38.5%; including one unconfirmed response), and 19 patients had TPS <1%, of which 3 had partial responses (ORR of 15.8%).

Preliminary safety findings indicate TSR-042 was generally well-tolerated, with a safety profile characteristic of approved anti-PD-1 inhibitors for NSCLC.

The GARNET study is intended to support a Biologics License Application (BLA) submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019 for patients with recurrent endometrial cancer.

A Phase 1 dose escalation study of TSR-033, an anti-LAG-3 monoclonal antibody, in patients with advanced solid tumors (CITRINO) [Poster Number: P325; Abstract: 10332]

Data from the monotherapy dose-escalation portion of the CITRINO study were presented and included 30 patients treated with different doses of TSR-033. There were no Grade ≥3 treatment-related treatment emergent adverse events reported. Exposure and peripheral receptor occupancy increased in a dose proportional manner from 20 milligrams to 720 milligrams.These preliminary findings indicate that TSR-033 was generally well tolerated across multiple dose levels, with a safety profile consistent to those of other immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Enrollment is ongoing for patients treated with TSR-033 in combination with 500 milligrams of TSR-042.

Investor Briefing and Webcast
TESARO will host an investor and analyst briefing in New York City on Monday, November 12 at 8:15AM local time. A reception will begin at 8:00AM ET, preceding the presentation. During the briefing, TESARO management will provide an overview of the Company’s immuno-oncology pipeline, followed by a detailed review of recent data presentations. The presentation will be followed by Q&A. This event will be webcast live and archived for 30 days, and may be accessed from the TESARO Investor Events and Presentations webpage at www.tesarobio.com.

About the AMBER Study
AMBER is an ongoing Phase 1 study of TSR-022, an anti-TIM-3 antibody, alone and in combination with TSR-042, an anti-PD-1 antibody. The study consists of two parts: dose escalation and cohort expansion. The monotherapy and combination dose-escalation parts of the study are complete. In the combination dose-escalation, patients were treated with 100 milligrams, 300 milligrams, or 900 milligrams of TSR-022 in combination with a fixed dose of TSR-042 (500 milligrams) every 3 weeks. The three expansion cohorts include NSCLC patients with progression following anti-PD-1 treatment, melanoma patients with progression following anti-PD-1 treatment, and colorectal cancer patients.

About the GARNET Study
GARNET is an ongoing multicenter, open-label, Phase 1 study of TSR-042 as a monotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumors. GARNET included a weight-based dose escalation study (Part 1) and a fixed-dose safety study (Part 2A), both of which have been completed. Results of these studies were used to determine the recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D; 500 mg Q3W for the first 4 cycles then 1000 mg Q6W). The ongoing cohort expansion portion of GARNET is evaluating TSR-042 in four cohorts: MSI (microsatellite instability)-high endometrial cancer, MSI-high non-endometrial cancer, MSS (microsatellite-stable) endometrial cancer and previously treated recurrent / advanced anti-PD-1 naïve NSCLC.

About the CITRINO Study
CITRINO is an ongoing multicenter, open-label Phase 1 study evaluating TSR-033, an anti-LAG-3 antibody, alone or in combination with an TSR-042 in patients with advanced solid tumors in a broad range of solid tumors.

About TSR-042, TSR-022, and TSR-033
TSR-042 is an investigational humanized anti-programmed death (PD)-1 monoclonal antibody that binds with high affinity to the PD-1 receptor and blocks its interaction with the ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2. TSR-042 is the only anti-PD-1 therapy being studied as monotherapy every 3 weeks for 4 doses then every 6 weeks thereafter. TSR-042 was developed as part of the collaboration between TESARO and AnaptysBio, Inc. This collaboration was initiated in March of 2014, and is focused on the development of monospecific antibody drugs targeting PD-1, TIM-3 (TSR-022), and LAG-3 (TSR-033), in addition to a bi-specific antibody drug candidate targeting PD-1/LAG-3 (TSR-075).

Immune Design to Present at Jefferies 2018 London Healthcare Conference

On November 9, 2018 Immune Design (Nasdaq: IMDZ), an immunotherapy company focused on next-generation therapies in oncology, reported that Carlos Paya, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Jefferies 2018 London Healthcare Conference on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 9:40 a.m. GMT / 4:40 a.m. ET (Press release, Immune Design, NOV 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234531093]).

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A live webcast of the presentation will be available online from the investor relations page of the company’s corporate website at View Source After the live webcast, an archive of the presentation will be available on the company website for 30 days.

Syros Announces Presentation of New Preclinical Data on SY-1365 in Treatment-Resistant HR-Positive Breast Cancer Cell Lines at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

On November 9, 2018 Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SYRS), a leader in the development of medicines that control the expression of genes, reported that new preclinical data on SY-1365, its first-in-class selective cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7) inhibitor, will be featured in a Spotlight poster discussion session at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium taking place December 4-8 in San Antonio (Press release, Syros Pharmaceuticals, NOV 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234531109]). The data show that SY-1365 has dose-dependent inhibitory activity in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer cell lines that are resistant to treatment with CDK4/6 inhibitors.

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The abstract for this presentation is now available online on the SABCS website at View Source

Details on the presentation are as follows:

Presentation Title: Inhibition of CDK7 overcomes resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer cells
Session Date & Time: Friday, December 7, 7:00-9:00 a.m. CT (8:00-10:00 a.m. ET)
Session Title: Spotlight Session 7: Lobular Breast Cancer
Presenter: Dr. Cristina Guarducci, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Abstract Number: 1008
Program Number: PD7-12
Location: Stars at Night Ballroom, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center

SELLAS Life Sciences Announces Additional Data Showing Consistent Clinical Effect Across HLA Allele Subgroups in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) Patients Treated with Nelipepimut-S Plus Trastuzumab Presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 2018 Annual Meeting

On November 9, 2018 SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:SLS) ("SELLAS" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel cancer immunotherapies for a broad range of cancer indications, reported data from a preplanned secondary efficacy analysis across human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele subgroups from the prospective, randomized, single-blinded, controlled Phase 2b independent investigator-sponsored clinical trial of the combination of nelipepimut-S (NeuVax, NPS) +/- trastuzumab (Herceptin) targeting HER2 low-expressing breast cancer patient cohorts (Press release, Sellas Life Sciences, NOV 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234531195]). The data are being presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper), being held November 7 -11, 2018.

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The data presented confirm the therapeutic potential of NPS for patients with early-stage TNBC in the adjuvant setting across HLA types A-02, -03, -24 and -26 which cover approximately 80-85% of the North American/European populations and 86-90% of Asian/Pacific basin populations. In the subgroup of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients with the HLA-A24+ allele type, which is highly prevalent in the Asian population, treated with the combination of NPS and trastuzumab (n=47), the p-value is 0.003 with a 90.6% relative reduction in risk of relapse or death at 24 months and a hazard ratio of 0.08 in favor of the active (combination) arm.

"These data not only confirm the clinical effect of the NPS plus trastuzumab combination in TNBC, which we recently announced at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) with a p-value of 0.013 and a 75% relative reduction in the risk of relapse or death, but also positions NPS biologically as an agent that could potentially be used globally, considering the high prevalence of the HLA-A24 allele in populations across the Pacific basin and Asia. We are scheduled to meet with the U.S. regulatory authorities in December 2018 on the most optimal and expeditious development path for NPS in TNBC, and continue to advance ongoing interactions with potential partners," said Dr. Angelos Stergiou, MD, ScD h.c., President and Chief Executive Officer of SELLAS.

"In this preplanned secondary efficacy analysis, consistent positive clinical benefit was seen in the TNBC cohort, irrespective of patients’ HLA allele types in favor of the NPS plus trastuzumab combination arm. Specifically, the HLA-A24+ TNBC patients had a significant improvement in disease-free survival both by log-rank and landmark (24 month) analysis despite the lowest predicted binding potential between the E75 (NPS) antigen and this HLA-type," commented Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, Rob and Karen Hale Distinguished Chair in Surgical Oncology, Director of Research, Breast Surgical Oncology Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Director, Breast Immuno-Oncology Program Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, and the Principal Investigator of the Phase 2b study.

"This suggests that NPS, which is able to bind to the lower-affinity MHC-I conformations (A24) in addition to the high-affinity ones, i.e., A02 and A03, may generate an optimally favorable immunologic response, possibly due to decreased exposure and tolerance to the E75 epitope. This is important, as other peptide vaccines can be tolerogenic and lead to progressively diminishing immunogenicity over time, something we do not expect to see with NPS," continued Dr. Mittendorf.

Herceptin is a registered trademark of Genentech, Inc. and is not a trademark of SELLAS. The manufacturer of this brand is not affiliated with and does not endorse SELLAS or its products.

SITC Presentation Information

Date: Friday, November 9th, 2018
Time: 12:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. ET.
Venue: SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) 2018 Annual Meeting, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC
Location: Poster Hall E
Poster number: P159
Title: "Correlation between response and HLA type in a randomized phase IIb trial of NeuVax + trastuzumab in HER2 low-expressing breast cancer patients to prevent recurrence."

About SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper)

The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) is the world’s leading member-driven organization specifically dedicated to improving cancer patient outcomes by advancing the science and application of cancer immunotherapy and serves scientists, clinicians, academicians, patients, patient advocates, government representatives and industry leaders from around the world. Currently, SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) has more than 2,000 members who represent 22 medical specialties in 42 countries around the world and brings together all aspects of the cancer immunology and immunotherapy community in its annual meeting.

Celldex Presents Promising Interim Data from Phase 1 Study of Differentiated CD40 Agonist CDX-1140 at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s 33rd Annual Meeting

On November 9, 2018 Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLDX) reported interim data Phase 1 dose-escalation study of CDX-1140, a fully human agonist anti-CD40 antibody (Press release, Celldex Therapeutics, NOV 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234531094]). CD40, expressed on dendritic cells and other antigen presenting cells, has long been an important target for immunotherapy, as it plays a critical role in the activation of innate and adaptive immune responses. The data were presented in a poster session at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper)’s (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 33rd Annual Meeting.

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"CDX-1140 was specifically designed to balance systemic dosing and safety, which has proven elusive for CD40-targeted activating therapeutics," said Tibor Keler, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Celldex Therapeutics. "We have completed four of the potential eight monotherapy dose levels and, to date, CDX-1140 has been well tolerated. Importantly, we are observing dose-dependent biological effects consistent with CD40-mediated immune cell activity. Based on these positive findings, we have expanded development of the program and recently initiated a combination cohort with CDX-301, our dendritic cell growth factor, to increase the number of dendritic cells which are critical to initiating antitumor immunity and a key target for CDX-1140. We also expanded the study to include patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as our preclinical work has demonstrated that CDX-1140 has direct killing effect on CD40-expressing NHL cells. We look forward to continued data updates from this study in the first half of 2019."

Potent CD40 agonist antibodies have shown encouraging results in early clinical studies; however, systemic toxicity associated with broad CD40 activation has limited their dosing. CDX-1140 has unique properties relative to other CD40 agonist antibodies: potent agonist activity resulting in dendritic cell and B cell activation is independent of Fc receptor interaction, contributing to more consistent, controlled immune activation; CD40 ligand (CD154) binding is not blocked, allowing potential synergistic, antigen-specific agonist activity; and the antibody promotes strong immune activation without significant adverse events in preclinical toxicology studies.

Study Highlights:
Seventeen patients with solid tumors were enrolled at the time of data analysis (n=13 monotherapy; n=4 combination). Four single-agent dosing cohorts have completed (0.01; 0.03, 0.09 and 0.18 mg/kg) and enrollment to the 0.36 mg/kg monotherapy cohort is ongoing. Enrollment to the first CDX-1140/CDX-301 combination cohort is ongoing (0.09 mg/kg and 75 ug/kg, respectively). Dose dependent biological effects consistent with CD40-mediated immune activation have been observed in the study and no maximum tolerated dose (MTD) has been identified to date. Continued enrollment is ongoing to define the MTD and select a dose for disease-specific expansion cohorts that will be monitored for clinical activity.

CDX-1140 has been well tolerated to date. One patient experienced a grade 3 dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) (pneumonitis and hypoxia) at the single-agent 0.18 mg/kg dose. Per protocol, three additional patients were enrolled in the cohort and no additional DLTs have been observed in this or subsequent cohorts.

There have been no significant drug-related changes observed to date in liver function tests or platelets, which have been observed with other CD40 agonists.

Transient dose-dependent pharmacodynamic effects have been observed including activation of immune cells and increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in the blood, which are consistent with CD40-mediated immune activation and the hypothesis that CDX-1140 may achieve dose levels optimal for systemic exposure.
A combination cohort with Celldex’s dendritic cell growth factor CDX-301 has been added to the CDX-1140 study. Dendritic cells, which express CD40, are rarely present or completely absent within the tumor microenvironment and are critical for initiating anti-tumor immunity. CDX-301 is being utilized to increase the number of dendritic cells in blood and tissue available for CDX-1140 activation. CDX-1140 should, in turn, activate the dendritic cells, an important step for enhancing anti-tumor immune responses. While this combination cohort just recently opened to enrollment, preliminary evidence of enhanced immune activation has been observed. Patients continue to be monitored for toxicity with no DLT observed to date.
The study has also been amended to allow for the inclusion of patients with CD40-expressing B cell lymphomas (subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma or NHL) in up to two single-agent cohorts. Both immune activation and direct killing of CD40-expressing NHL cells by CDX-1140 have been shown to contribute to antitumor activity. Several B cell lymphomas, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma, also express both CD40 and CD27. Celldex’s varlilumab is a potent CD27 agonist and has been shown to synergize with CDX-1140 in NHL models and may be evaluated in combination with CDX-1140 in the future.
About CDX-1140
CDX-1140 is a fully human antibody targeted to CD40, a key activator of immune response that is found on dendritic cells, macrophages and B cells and is also expressed on many cancer cells. Potent CD40 agonist antibodies have shown encouraging results in early clinical studies; however, systemic toxicity associated with broad CD40 activation has limited their dosing. CDX-1140 has unique properties relative to other CD40 agonist antibodies: potent agonist activity resulting in dendritic cell and B cell activation is independent of Fc receptor interaction, contributing to more consistent, controlled immune activation; CD40 ligand (CD154) binding is not blocked, allowing potential synergistic, antigen-specific agonist activity; and the antibody promotes strong immune activation without significant adverse events in preclinical toxicology studies. CDX-1140 has also shown direct antitumor activity in preclinical lymphoma models. Celldex believes that the potential for CDX-1140 will be best defined in combination studies with other immunotherapies, including CDX-301, Celldex’s dendritic cell growth factor, varlilumab, Celldex’s potent CD27 agonist, checkpoint blockade, radiation and other conventional cancer treatments.