On May 31, 2022 Eureka Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel T cell therapies to treat solid tumors, and City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, reported that City of Hope treated the first patient with GPC3-positive advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the predominant type of liver cancer, with ECT204, an experimental T cell therapy (Press release, Eureka Therapeutics, MAY 31, 2022, View Source [SID1234615281]). This marks the first-in-human use of GPC3 targeting ARTEMIS T cells for the treatment of HCC.

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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 ARYA-3 investigational study evaluating ECT204, a patient’s T cells are 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. In January of this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) to ECT204 for the treatment of HCC. Additional information about this Phase I/II study may be found at ClinicalTrials.gov using Identifier NCT: NCT04864054.

"First patient dosing of ECT204 is a significant step forward in our commitment to expand the use of T cell therapy into solid tumors," said Dr. Cheng Liu, founder and CEO, Eureka Therapeutics. "ARTEMIS T cells have demonstrated superior tumor infiltration and excellent safety profile in preclinical studies. We look forward to further developing it in the clinical setting to fully unlock the potential of T-cell therapy in solid tumors."

"City of Hope is committed to finding innovative treatments for challenging solid tumors that currently do not have effective medical treatments," said Daneng Li, M.D., co-director of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Program and principal investigator of the ARYA3 trial at City of Hope. "Targeting GPC3 with T cell immunotherapy would be a promising approach to treating advanced liver cancer."

Liver cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for an estimated 830,000 deaths in 2020. About 41,000 new cases and nearly 31,000 deaths from liver cancer are expected to occur in the U.S. in 2022. According to the American Cancer Society, liver cancer diagnosis has more than tripled since 1980. Patients with advanced HCC have a poor prognosis and limited treatment options.

"Liver cancer patients have very limited treatment options, and more innovative therapies with novel mechanisms of action are desperately needed to bring hope to patients with this challenging diagnosis," Li said. "I look forward to treating more patients with this experimental therapy and seeing data from the study to understand the potential of ECT204."

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