On October 22, 2018 amcure, a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class cancer therapeutics, presented clinical trial data from its lead oncology drug candidate, AMC303, at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress in Munich (Press release, amcure, OCT 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234530042]). The data presented on Sunday, 21 October in a proffered oral presentation demonstrated the favorable safety profile of AMC303. The company is currently conducting a Phase 1b expansion cohort and expects to publish updates from the study in 2019.

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AMC303 is a cyclic peptide targeting CD44v6, a key cell membrane protein in pathways of several receptor-tyrosine kinases, such as c-MET, VEGFR-2 and RON. This approach provides a potential novel mechanism for the treatment of patients with advanced and solid tumors that have already begun to spread throughout the body. Trial results presented at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2018 have shown the compound to be well-tolerated in 27 patients with a total of 11 different cancer types, with a favorable PK profile. No related serious adverse events (SAEs) were reported, and most frequently reported related events were infusion related reactions and hypersensitivity (grade 1-2, in 22% of patients), followed by nausea, diarrhea and fatigue.

"AMC303 was well tolerated in a heavily pretreated and diverse cancer patient population. The most related adverse events were transient and manageable. AMC303 has thus the potential of being a safe therapeutic option with a unique and additive mechanism of action," said Dr. Emiliano Calvo, MD, Lead Investigator of the trial at the Hospital Madrid Norte Sanchinarro and Director at the START Madrid-CIOCC Early Phase Clinical Drug Development program.

"These encouraging data support the continuation of the trial into its second part, targeting patients with a moderate to high expression of the target molecule CD44v6 and selected cancer types with a confirmed squamous cell histology. We look forward to updating the community on the progress of this trial and publish additional data sets as they emerge," added Klaus Dembowsky, CEO of amcure GmbH.

The trial, conducted in Belgium and Spain, is designed to assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of multiple and increasing doses of AMC303 as monotherapy in patients with advanced metastatic malignant solid tumors of epithelial origin. In addition, the study includes a comprehensive biomarker program. The study was designed to include a broad variety of tumor types in the first part of the study irrespective of the target expression and a tumor type-specific expansion cohort at the recommended dose for a subsequent Phase 2 study. With the expansion cohort, amcure focuses its patient selection on patients with a moderate to high expression of the target molecule CD44v6 in four specific tumor types of squamous tumors: head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), squamous non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), esophageal and cervical tumors.

For more information on the trial please visit View Source

About AMC303
amcure’s lead compound, AMC303, is being developed as a potential treatment for patients with advanced and metastatic epithelial tumors, e.g. pancreatic cancer, head and neck cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer. AMC303 has a high specificity for inhibiting CD44v6, a co-receptor required for signaling through multiple cellular pathways (c-Met, VEGFR-2, RON) involved in tumor growth, angiogenesis and the development and regression of metastases. AMC303 has demonstrated strong effects in various in vitro and in vivo assays.

On October 22, 2018 Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACRS), a dermatologist-led, biopharmaceutical company focused on identifying, developing, and commercializing innovative therapies to address significant unmet patient needs in aesthetic and medical dermatology and immunology, reported the closing of its underwritten public offering of 9,941,750 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $10.75 per share, which includes the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase 1,296,750 additional shares, for total gross proceeds of approximately $106.9 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses (Press release, Aclaris Therapeutics, OCT 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234530061]). All of the common stock in the offering was sold by Aclaris.

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Leerink Partners and Evercore ISI acted as joint book-running managers for the offering. Cantor acted as lead manager for the offering. Guggenheim Securities acted as co-manager for the offering.

A shelf registration statement relating to this offering was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 2, 2016 and declared effective by the SEC on November 14, 2016. The offering is being made only by means of a written prospectus and prospectus supplement that form a part of the registration statement. A final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering has been filed with the SEC and is available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may also be obtained by contacting Leerink Partners LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, MA 02110, telephone: (800) 808-7525, ext. 6132, or by email at [email protected]; or Evercore Group L.L.C., Attention: Equity Capital Markets, 55 East 52nd Street, 36th Floor, New York, New York 10055, by telephone at 888-474-0200, or by email at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities being offered, nor shall there be any sale of the securities being offered in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

On October 22, 2018 Epizyme, Inc. (Nasdaq: EPZM), a clinical-stage company developing novel epigenetic therapies, reported positive interim data from the fully enrolled epithelioid sarcoma cohort of its ongoing Phase 2 study of its lead candidate tazemetostat, a potent, selective, orally available EZH2 inhibitor (Press release, Epizyme, OCT 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234530043]). The data were presented by the study’s lead investigator, Mrinal Gounder, M.D., attending physician, Sarcoma Medical Oncology and Early Drug Development Services, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2018 Congress in Munich, Germany.

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Interim data as of August 21, 2018 from the 62 patients enrolled show that tazemetostat treatment demonstrated clinically meaningful activity for patients with epithelioid sarcoma (ES). Oral, twice daily administration of tazemetostat resulted in durable objective responses and encouraging overall survival in both treatment-naive patients and patients who had been previously treated with an anticancer therapy. In addition, tazemetostat was generally well-tolerated.

"Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare and aggressive form of soft tissue sarcoma, with limited effective treatment options available. We often see patients diagnosed with advanced disease who have a very poor prognosis," said Dr. Gounder. "It is highly encouraging to see these updated efficacy and tolerability data with tazemetostat, and I believe this agent has the potential to be an important treatment option for patients with epithelioid sarcoma and their treating physicians."

"We are very pleased with the interim data from this cohort, which represents the largest prospective study of epithelioid sarcoma with any approved or investigational anticancer treatment to date. The data presented today further demonstrate the potential treatment opportunity we see with tazemetostat," said Rob Bazemore, president and chief executive officer of Epizyme. "We are one step closer to achieving our mission of bringing epigenetic treatments to people with cancer and other serious diseases. We look forward to working with investigators and regulators in an effort to bring to market the potential first therapy indicated for patients with epithelioid sarcoma."

Epithelioid Sarcoma Interim Efficacy Data
Epithelioid sarcoma is an ultra-rare and aggressive soft tissue sarcoma, characterized by a loss of the INI1 protein. It is most commonly diagnosed in young adults (18-40 years old) and is often fatal, with a median survival of less than one year in treatment-naive patients. Today, there is no treatment indicated specifically for epithelioid sarcoma.

The ES cohort completed enrollment in July of 2017 with 24 treatment-naive patients and 38 relapsed and/or refractory patients for a total of 62 epithelioid sarcoma patients. The primary endpoint of the study is objective response rate (ORR), comprised of complete and partial responses as measured by RECIST 1.1. Key secondary endpoints include duration of response, overall survival, disease control rate (DCR; comprised of confirmed objective responses for any duration or disease stabilization of 32 weeks or more) and safety.

Interim findings are summarized below, based on an August 21, 2018 data cut-off date.

Notably, since the data cut-off, one patient in the treatment-naive group who had stable disease subsequently achieved an objective response. This additional patient brings the total to six responders (~25%) in this treatment-naive group and nine responders (15%) in the overall population, to date, with several patients with stable disease remaining on treatment.

Tazemetostat Interim Safety Data
Tazemetostat has been generally well-tolerated and continues to demonstrate favorable safety in the Phase 2 study, with no discontinuations or deaths due to treatment-related adverse events (AEs) observed. The majority of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were grade 1 or 2. Only 13 percent of patients experienced a grade 3 or higher treatment-related AE. Treatment-related AEs with an incidence of 10 percent or greater were fatigue (26%), nausea (26%), decreased appetite (16%), vomiting (16%), diarrhea and weight decrease (13%) and anemia (10%).

"We are pleased with the clinically meaningful and durable objective responses observed in this study, with a number of stable disease patients who are still on treatment and have the potential to achieve an objective response in the future," stated Dr. Shefali Agarwal, medical oncologist and chief medical officer of Epizyme. "These updated efficacy and safety data from the completed ES cohort suggest that tazemetostat may play an important role for patients in the future, particularly when considering the known limitations and challenges with current treatment options, and further bolster our confidence in our first planned NDA submission for tazemetostat. I’d like to thank the study investigators, medical staffs, and most importantly, the patients and caregivers, who have participated in this trial and supported the ongoing development of tazemetostat."

Conference Call Information
Epizyme management will host a conference call today at 8:30 am E.T. To participate in the conference call, please dial 877-844-6886 (domestic) or 970-315-0315 (international) and refer to conference ID 8780088. The webcast can be accessed in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at www.epizyme.com. The replay of the webcast will be available in the investor section of the company’s website for 60 days.

About the Tazemetostat Clinical Trial Program
Tazemetostat, a potent, selective, orally available, first-in-class EZH2 inhibitor, is currently being studied as a monotherapy in ongoing Phase 2 programs in certain molecularly defined solid tumors, including epithelioid sarcoma and other INI1-negative tumors; follicular lymphoma (FL); and combination studies in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

On October 22, 2018 Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) reported that new data from the company’s recently completed Phase 1b study with INO-5150 demonstrated a slowing of Prostate-Specific Antigen Doubling Time (PSADT) in men with prostate cancer (Press release, Inovio, OCT 22, 2018, View Source;PSA-Doubling-Time-Improvements-in-Prostate-Cancer-Patients-Treated-with-INO-5150/default.aspx [SID1234530272]). Eighty six percent (86%) of patients remained progression-free at Week 72 of the study. These data were presented in a poster entitled "Synthetic DNA immunotherapy in Biochemically Relapsed Prostate Cancer" at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2018 congress in Munich today.

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In this study, Inovio evaluated the tolerability and immunogenicity of INO-5150, a DNA vaccine encoding PSA and PSMA, with or without INO-9012 (encoding IL-12 immune adjuvant), in men with biochemically relapsed prostate cancer. The study demonstrated a slowing of PSA doubling time, a measure of disease progression, in a majority of patients on the study. In addition, 86% of patients were progression-free at Week 72 of the study, which in this treatment-refractory, high-risk patient population, is thought to be clinically promising. Importantly, analyses demonstrated that immunogenicity was observed in 77% (47/61) of patients by multiple immunologic assessments.

Previous results from the Phase 1b study were presented at the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) annual meeting and demonstrated that of the 61 evaluable patients, 77% (47/61) demonstrated T cell immunogenicity, and 38% (19/50) exhibited CD38+, Perforin+CD8+ T cell responses. Results presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) provided clinical data through week 72 and immunology data through week 27. The latest results being presented at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) update these data and report that 80% of evaluable patients in the trial demonstrated either INO-5150 specific T cell or antibody reactivity.

Dr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The follow-up data and opportunity to showcase INO-5150 from our Phase 1 prostate cancer study further helps Inovio’s efforts to enter into a strategic development partnership to expand into a Phase 2 study. These follow-up results support the rationale for further development and provides the basis for a novel checkpoint combination cancer trial."

This patented approach of INO-5150 in combination with CELLECTRA delivery device is designed to help the body’s immune system overcome its "self-tolerance" to prostate cancer cells and mount a strong targeted CD8+ killer T cell response to eliminate the cancerous cells displaying these antigens. Moreover, PSMA is also one of 3 antigens comprising INO-5401, which is being tested in two separate Phase 1/2 trials as an immunotherapy to treat glioblastoma and metastatic bladder cancer in combination with Regeneron and Genentech/Roche’s checkpoint inhibitors, respectively.

About Prostate Cancer and Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer (BRPC)

Prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in men. Nearly three-quarters of the registered cases occur in developed countries. Accounting for nearly 300,000 deaths each year, prostate cancer is the sixth leading cause of death from cancer in men. There are about 60,000 patients each year in the US that develop biochemically recurrent prostate cancer (BRPC). The development of a new treatment for prostate cancer would be a significant medical advance given that current standard-of-care treatment options (surgery, radiation and hormone deprivation), while somewhat effective, all carry deleterious side effects and are often not a long-term cure.

On October 22, 2018 Intensity Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing proprietary immune cell-activating cancer treatments, reported preliminary data from a Phase 1/2 clinical study demonstrated that INT230-6, the Company’s novel lead product candidate designed for direct intratumoral injection, was well tolerated in patients with advanced solid tumors (Press release, Intensity Therapeutics, OCT 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234530321]). The data were presented in a poster session on Saturday at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2018 Congress in Munich, Germany.
INT230-6 is comprised of two proven, potent anti-cancer agents and a unique molecule that causes rapid drug dispersion throughout tumors and diffusion into cancer cells. In preclinical studies, INT230-6 demonstrated the ability to thoroughly saturate and kill injected tumors and induce an adaptive immune response that attacks non-injected tumors.

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"We are pleased to share the first clinical data emerging from Intensity’s study evaluating INT230-6 in patients with different types of solid tumors. This early data indicates that INT230-6 can be safely injected into several different types of superficial and deep tumors, and the vast majority of the active components stay inside the tumor," said Ian B. Walters, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Intensity.

The presenting author and a study investigator, Anthony El-Khoueiry, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and phase I program director at the University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, said, "We have treated 20 patients in the study thus far, and the intratumoral injections of INT230-6 have been well tolerated. Most patients experienced mild to moderate transient local pain and swelling. Even at low doses, we are seeing some anti-tumor effects in injected tumors, as well as some evidence of immune activation in the blood. There are also early signs of anti-tumor effects in distal untreated tumors."

Dr. Walters added, "The study will continue to enroll patients with difficult-to-treat tumors as we explore higher doses. We look forward to adding more North American sites, as well as new centers outside the U.S. and Canada. In addition, we plan to move into combination arms with an anti-PD-1 antibody and begin Phase 2 expansion cohorts next year."

About INT230-6

INT230-6, Intensity’s lead product candidate designed for direct intratumoral injection, is comprised of two proven, potent anti-cancer agents and a penetration enhancer molecule that helps disperse the drugs throughout tumors and diffuse into cancer cells. INT230-6 is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study (NCT03058289) in patients with various advanced solid tumors. In preclinical studies, INT230-6 eradicated tumors by a combination of direct tumor kill and recruitment of dendritic cells to the tumor micro-environment that induced anti-cancer T-cell activation. Treatment with INT230-6 in in vivo models of severe cancer resulted in substantial improvement in overall survival compared to standard therapies. Further, INT230-6 provided complete responder animals with long-term, durable protection from multiple re-inoculations of the initial cancer and resistance to other cancers. In mouse models, INT230-6 has shown strong synergy with checkpoint blockage, including anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA4 antibodies. INT230-6 was discovered from Intensity’s DfuseRxSM platform.

About the Phase 1/2 Clinical Study

INT230-6 is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with different types of advanced solid tumor malignancies. The study’s primary objective is to assess the safety and tolerability of multiple intratumoral doses of INT230-6. Secondary assessments are the measurement of injected and bystander tumor responses, and determination of the systemic pharmacokinetic profile of multiple doses of INT230-6’s drug substances after single and then multiple intratumoral injections. Exploratory analysis will characterize patient outcome, as well as evaluate various tumor and anti-tumor immune response biomarkers that may correlate with response. The study includes several adaptive components that will allow for adjustments in patient groups, dosing schedule and dose volumes administered. Data will be used to assess the progression free and overall survival in patients receiving INT230-6. For more information, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03058289).