On July 21, 2021 Eureka Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel T cell therapies to treat solid tumors, reported the initiation of a Phase I/II clinical trial of ECT204, a GPC3 targeting ARTEMIS T-cell therapy for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the predominant type of liver cancer. The Phase I portion of the ARYA-3 study is now open for enrollment (Press release, Eureka Therapeutics, JUL 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234585026]).

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Glypican 3 (GPC3) is a promising target for HCC therapies and is found in more than 70% of HCC cells. The GPC3 protein is also expressed in other solid tumors including ovarian and lung cancer. During the ECT204 ARYA-3 investigational study, a patient’s T cells will be collected, engineered to express Eureka’s proprietary ARTEMIS cell receptors targeting GPC3, and infused back into the patient’s body to target and kill GPC3-expressing cancer cells.

The ARYA-3 trial is being run in parallel with Eureka’s ongoing ET140203 ARYA-1 trial. With ET140203, the ARTEMIS receptor targets an alpha fetoprotein (AFP)-peptide/HLA-A2 complex found on liver cancer cells using a TCR-mimic antibody. With ECT204, since the antibody directly recognizes GPC3 and does not require the patient to be HLA-A2 positive, the therapy is potentially available to a larger liver cancer patient population.

"We look forward to working with City of Hope on our ARYA-1 and ARYA-3 clinical trials," said Dr. Cheng Liu, President and CEO of Eureka Therapeutics. "ECT204 and ET140203 ARTEMIS T cells were engineered with our proprietary tumor infiltration and controlled cytokine release technologies that we believe can improve on the performance of engineered T cell therapies in solid tumors. Effective treatment for HCC is a highly unmet medical need, and we are committed to bringing our therapies to patients faster."

"We are excited to provide City of Hope patients with both GPC3 and AFP targeted therapy options to treat HCC," said Dr. Daneng Li, Program Lead of the Hepatobiliary Tumor Program and principal investigator of the trial at City of Hope, a comprehensive cancer center near Los Angeles. "Engineered T-cell therapy is a novel approach, and it has the potential to transform how solid tumors will be treated in the future."

The ARYA-3 study is an open-label, dose escalation, multi-center, Phase I/II clinical trial of ECT204 ARTEMIS T cell therapy to initially assess the safety and determine the recommended phase II dose (RP2D) in adult patients with advanced GPC3-positive HCC. Additional information about Eureka’s Phase I/II study may be found at ClinicalTrials.gov, using Identifier NCT: NCT04864054.

Patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals interested in Eureka’s clinical trials and technology can find more information by visiting eurekaconnectme.com.

Liver cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide, accounting for an estimated 782,000 deaths in 2018. About 43,000 new cases, and 30,000 deaths from liver cancer are expected to occur in the U.S. in 2020. The rate of liver cancer diagnosis has more than tripled since 1980, according to the American Cancer Society. Patients with advanced HCC have a poor prognosis and limited treatment options.