On January 20, 2015 BioInvent International (OMXS: BINV) reported an agreement with Cancer Research UK, Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the charity’s development and commercialisation arm, and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research (LLR) to take its investigational drug, BI-1206, into a collaborative phase I/II trial for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, JAN 20, 2015, View Source [SID1234523213]).

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The first in man study will be funded and conducted by Cancer Research UK, CRT and LLR. BioInvent has been granted the option to take up an exclusive license to the study data, subject to payment of milestones and royalties to Cancer Research Technology.

BI-1206 is a fully-human anti-CD32b antagonistic antibody that in addition to directly killing tumour cells is thought to work by maintaining CD20 antibodies on the cell membrane of cancer cells, preventing them from becoming resistant to the current state-of-the-art treatment, rituximab.

The antibody has shown promise both in combination with CD20 antibodies and as a single agent in chronic lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL) and other types of NHL, in an extensive package of preclinical studies carried out by Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research-funded scientists at the University of Southampton. The potential development opportunity for BI-1206 may extend well beyond NHL.

The open label Phase I/ll study will enroll between 50 and 60 patients who will receive either BI-1206 alone or BI-1206 in combination with rituximab. The study will primarily enroll CLL patients but smaller cohorts of patients with other types of NHL, such as mantle cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, may also be recruited. The study is expected to commence in the second half of 2015.

Each year in the UK approximately 12,800 people are diagnosed with NHL and 3,200 people are diagnosed with CLL. In Europe and North America around 157,000 people are diagnosed with NHL yearly and approximately 35,000 people are diagnosed with CLL.*

Michael Oredsson, CEO of BioInvent, said: "We are very pleased that Cancer Research UK and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research have chosen to conduct and fund the BI-1206 Phase I/ll trial. Cancer Research UK is one of the world’s leading cancer research charities with in-house clinical, regulatory and medical capabilities and an established network of clinical cancer centres and leading clinicians in the UK. This agreement provides BioInvent with an ideal resource to execute the first-in-man study for BI-1206 whilst preserving the commercial value in the project."

Professor Chris Bunce, Research Director at Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, said "Monoclonal antibodies have boosted survival rates for many types of lymphoma and leukaemia in recent years, but patient responses remain varied. BI-1206 has shown great promise in reducing treatment resistance in the laboratory. Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research has funded research into this treatment at the University of Southampton since 2008 and we’re very excited that through this partnership patients could benefit from it soon."

Dr Nigel Blackburn, Cancer Research UK’s Director of Drug Development, said "BI-1206 has performed well in preclinical studies making it an ideal candidate for our Clinical Development Partnerships program, which helps industry run trials of potential new cancer treatments that would otherwise never progress beyond the lab. There is a real need for new blood cancer drugs that help boost the effectiveness of conventional chemotherapy drugs, as many patients cannot tolerate or become resistant to these treatments over time. Consequently, we look forward to seeing the results of this trial."

BI-1206 will be developed under Cancer Research UK’s Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP) program, a joint initiative between Cancer Research UK’s Centre For Drug Development (CDD) and CRT, to develop promising anti-cancer agents, which pharmaceutical companies do not have the resources to progress through early phase clinical trials.

It is the first drug to be entered into a new partnership through which Cancer Research UK and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research will be jointly funding early phase clinical trials for patients with blood cancers.

Cancer Research UK’s CDD will manage and sponsor the study through the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) network, with Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research providing the majority of the funding.

On January 19th, 2015 Karcinolys SAS, a privately-held biotechnology company developing the Myb34.5 oncolytic virus, reported that data from preclinical studies in pancreatic cancer models were featured in the peer-reviewed journal Human Gene Therapy (Press release, Karcinolys, JAN 19, 2015, View Source [SID1234525529]).

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The paper titled "Targeted oncolytic HSV-1 eradicates experimental pancreatic tumours" was authored by Marion Gayral and Pierre Cordelier, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, INSERM U1037, Cancer Research Center of Toulouse and Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, and can be accessed at: View Source

The paper featured preclinical studies of the Myb34.5 oncolytic virus. The authors found that cellular transcription factor B-myb was present in experimental pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and tumours, and was over expressed in patients’ tumours, as compared to normal adjacent pancreas. Myb34.5 replicated to high level in human PDAC cell lines and not in adjacent normal tissues, and was associated with cell death by apoptosis. In experimental models of PDAC, mice receiving intratumoral Myb34.5 injections appeared healthy and tumour progression was inhibited, with evidences of tumour necrosis, haemorrhage, viral replication and cancer cell death by apoptosis. Combining standard-of-care chemotherapy with Myb34.5 successfully led to a very impressive antitumoral effect that is rarely achieved in this experimental model, and resulted in a greater reduction in tumour growth than chemotherapy alone.

"The publication of data from our lead compound, Myb34.5, in this respected peer-reviewed journal emphasizes the potential importance of Karcinolys’ oncolytic virus may have in oncology," said Jean-Luc Béjot, MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Karcinolys. "As we plan to move Myb34.5 through the clinic in 2017, we will continue to share our findings with the medical community through peer-reviewed publications, increasing the exposure of our drug candidate and expanding partnering opportunities."

About Myb34.5

Myb34.5 is a replication-conditional oncolytic virus derived from herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) through targeted genetic engineering. The key mutation is the insertion of cellular transcription factor b-myb gene as a promoter gene sequence controlling and retargeting the expression of HSV-1 virulence gene gamma34.5 (?34.5). Replication of Myb34.5 in infected cells is conditioned by the expression of b-myb, which has been found to be over-expressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells. Myb34.5 selectively replicates in cancer cells, resulting in infected cancer cell death, while sparing normal surrounding tissue cells. Karcinolys in-licensed Myb34.5 from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH, Harvard University, Boston, Ma., USA) in 2007. Myb34.5 was granted orphan drug designation by the FDA on December 23, 2014.

On January 19, 2015 Eleison Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Eleison"), a specialty pharmaceutical company developing life-saving therapeutics for rare cancers, reported a partnership with Intelgen (HK) Limited ("Intelgen") to develop and commercialize the lung cancer drug candidate ILC (Inhaled Lipid-complexed Cisplatin) for the Chinese market (Press release, Eleison Pharmaceuticals, JAN 19, 2015, View Source [SID1234517398]). Mr. Edwin Thomas, CEO of Eleison Pharmaceuticals commented, "We are highly pleased to have as a partner Intelgen, an emerging pharmaceutical company in China and ideally capable of developing and commercializing ILC." Ms. Lan Zou, President and CEO of Intelgen commented, "ILC is potentially an important new treatment for lung cancer, and we look forward to working with Eleison to develop ILC for the benefit of patients with few therapeutic options." Under the terms of the partnership agreement, Intelgen received exclusive marketing rights in China and will be responsible for marketing and distribution of ILC in the China market. Eleison and Intelgen will work cooperatively for the clinical development and regulatory approval of ILC in China. Eleison has received an up-front payment, and will receive royalties, milestone payments, and development support from Intelgen.

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On January 16, 2015 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals reported final safety, efficacy and biomarker data from the company’s Phase 1b "ALPINE" clinical trial of tarextumab (anti-Notch2/3, OMP-59R5) in 40 patients with frontline metastatic pancreatic cancer (Press release OncoMed, JAN 16, 2015, View Source [SID:1234501384]).

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Tarextumab was generally well tolerated when administered with gemcitabine and Abraxane (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin bound), with manageable, on-target drug-related toxicities. The Phase 2 dose of tarextumab was determined to be 15 mg/kg every two weeks in combination with the standard-of-care. Among patients evaluable for response using RECIST criteria, 38 percent (11 of 29) achieved partial responses, with an additional 35 percent achieving stable disease (10 of 29) for an overall clinical benefit rate of 73 percent (21 of 29 patients). Median progression-free survival and overall survival values for the three drug combination of tarextumab-gemcitabine-Abraxane were 5.6 months and 11.6 months, respectively, for all patients treated with the three-drug combination.

The data presented included biomarker analyses that showed that among patients whose tumor samples had elevated levels of Notch3 gene expression, trends toward higher response rates and longer survival were noted, as compared to patients with low Notch3 expression. Median PFS and OS for patients with high Notch 3 expression (using a 50% cut-off) were 6.6 months and 14.6 months, respectively. Given the small sample size and potential imbalances in patient characteristics, these encouraging preliminary efficacy and predictive biomarker observations are being assessed in the ongoing randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 ALPINE trial

"The positive data from the Phase 1b study of tarextumab in first line pancreatic cancer patients provide us with clear support for the advancement of this drug into Phase 2," said Paul J. Hastings, OncoMed’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The randomized Phase 2 ALPINE study, which began enrolling patients in July of 2014, is enrolling rapidly and we believe the ALPINE study will be the first of our randomized Phase 2 trials to read out, with data expected in the first half 2016."

"Tumor Notch3 gene expression is estimated to be elevated in approximately 70 percent of pancreatic cancer patients and it is thought to be an indicator of poor prognosis and chemotherapy resistance. The data suggesting that the biomarker-positive patients may have improved response rates and survival with tarextumab treatment are supportive of the Phase 2 design of the ALPINE study where tarextumab’s impact on efficacy of all patients enrolled as well as the biomarker positive patients will be assessed. The Notch3 predictive biomarker may enable us to identify those patients that would gain the greatest benefit from tarextumab treatment," added Jakob Dupont, M.D., OncoMed’s Chief Medical Officer.

"Pancreatic cancer remains among the most challenging cancers in spite of recent treatment advances. The Phase 1b tarextumab data confirm safety and early signals of efficacy observed in earlier stage studies," said Eileen O’Reilly, M.D., Associate Director, Clinical Research with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a Principal Investigator of ALPINE. "Further exploration of tarextumab’s potential as a new treatment option for pancreatic cancer patients is warranted and ongoing in the randomized Phase 2 portion of the study. The trial will evaluate the addition of tarextumab in a frontline untreated pancreas cancer population and in specific biomarker-selected subsets."

In the Phase 1b study, tarextumab was administered to standard-of-care chemotherapy to 40 patients with previously untreated, metastatic pancreatic cancer. Thirty-one of the patients received the combination of gemcitabine, Abraxane and tarextumab. Escalating doses of tarextumab were administered every two weeks, ranging from 2.5 mg/kg to 15 mg/kg. Diarrhea, fatigue and anemia were the most common treatment-related toxicities, and the events were mostly Grade 1 or 2, and managed with supportive care. The randomized, double blinded Phase 2 portion of the ALPINE study is currently enrolling patients with first-line advanced pancreatic cancer at 36 clinical sites in the United States. Data are anticipated in the first half of 2016 for both the intent to treat population as well as the tumor Notch3 biomarker positive patients.

On January 16, 2015 Peregrine Pharmaceuticals reported on the presentation of clinical data related to the company’s immuno-oncology development program and its lead investigational immunotherapy drug candidate bavituximab at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (Press release Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, JAN 16, 2015, View Source [SID:1234501385]). This conference is being held January 15-17, 2015 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco, California.

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The clinical presentation titled: "A Phase II Study of Bavituximab and Sorafenib in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)" will be presented this afternoon by Adam Yopp, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, Texas.

In this single-center, single-arm, open-label investigator-sponsored trial (IST), 38 patients with advanced HCC received bavituximab (3mg/kg) weekly and sorafenib (400 mg) twice daily until disease progression or toxicity. Data show that the combination of bavituximab and sorafenib is associated with an improved time to progression (TTP) of 6.7 months, a disease specific survival (DSS) of 8.7 months, a disease control rate (DCR) of 58% (22 out of 38 patients) and a 4-month progression-free survival (PFS) of 62%. Two patients (5%) achieved a partial response according to Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST). The secondary endpoint of median overall survival (OS) was 6.2 months. The combination of bavituximab and sorafenib was well-tolerated in patients with advanced HCC with no indications of autoimmune adverse events that have been seen with other checkpoint immunotherapies.

"These clinical outcomes of time to progression, disease control rate and 4-month progression-free survival are quite encouraging, especially in this heavily pretreated patient cohort with very poor prognosis due to their unfavorable disease biology including a high rate of macrovascular invasion," said Dr. Yopp. "I was also pleased to see an extended tail in the survival curve that is typical of emerging immunotherapies for cancer. The positive data from this study should be considered as rationale for future randomized trials to further evaluate the potential of bavituximab in liver cancer."

"These data, along with recently reported translational data from this study, continue to build the knowledge base for the bavituximab clinical program and, in particular, highlight the potential immunotherapeutic synergies of bavituximab and sorafenib. We agree with Dr. Yopp that these data warrant further clinical evaluation of this combination in later stage clinical trials," said Joseph Shan, vice president of clinical and regulatory for Peregrine. "We continue to build value in the bavituximab program across multiple programs including the execution of the SUNRISE Phase III trial in second-line, non-small cell lung cancer and from data generated from this and other investigator-sponsored trials as well as other ongoing clinical trials. We look forward to new clinical collaborations with the goal of further exploring the utility of bavituximab in combination with other immuno-oncology drugs."

Liver IST Clinical Translation Data

Recently presented translational data of six patients from this trial show that half of the patients evaluated had an increase in tumor fighting immune cells following one cycle of bavituximab treatment, similar to what has been shown for PS-targeting antibodies in multiple preclinical cancer models. In addition, the increase in immune response was associated with patients that remained on study treatment for longer time periods, suggesting the possibility of a clinically meaningful anti-tumor immune response. Three of the six patients evaluated had increased infiltration of activated tumor-fighting T-cells (CD8) into the tumor microenvironment which correlated with a prolonged time to disease progression. In addition, these responding patients initially expressed lower levels of PD-1 positive cells, an established marker of T-cell activation and disease outcome, prior to the initiation of therapy that was followed by a measurable rise post bavituximab treatment.