On April 29, 2024 INmune Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: INMB) (the "Company"), a clinical-stage immunology company focused on developing treatments that harness the patient’s innate immune system to fight disease, reported to advance its Natural Killer (NK) cell therapy, INKmune, in a Phase I/II trial for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) (Press release, INmune Bio, APR 29, 2024, View Source [SID1234642472]). The Company is pleased to announce the successful completion of the first cohort in the trial. Following review by the Safety Review Committee (SRC), approval has been granted to proceed with the second dose level (cohort 2). The first patient of the second cohort has been identified and will undergo screening to prepare for treatment.
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So far, there have been 9 administrations of INKmune in the mCRPC study given as an out-patient with no significant adverse events. When added to the experience with INKmune given in the MDS/AML trial, over 20 infusions of INKmune have been given safely without the need for conditioning therapy, pre-medication, or cytokine support.
"We are pleased with the safety of INKmune in men with mCRPC and feedback from the SRC to proceed with cohort 2. Our initial focus is on assessing the safety of INKmune in this group of patients, and the fact that the drug can be safely administered on an outpatient basis is appealing to both patients and clinical teams. Safety is just one aspect of the therapeutic process. The main objective of INKmune therapy is to transform resting NK cells into memory-like NK cells capable of attacking the tumor. Given that prostate cancer has numerous resting NK cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) that do not eliminate cancer, we believe that INKmune, by transforming the patient’s NK cells into cancer-killing cells, could potentially be an optimal therapy for prostate cancer," said Prof. Mark Lowdell Ph.D., CSO of INmune Bio and inventor of INKmune.
About CaRe PC
CaRe PC is an open label Phase I/II trial that will test up to three doses of INKmune in men with mCRPC. INKmune is given in the out-patient setting via an intravenous infusion three times in the first two weeks of treatment (days 1, 8 and 15). No pre-medication or additional cytokines are needed for INKmune therapy. The patient is followed for six months with careful study of immunologic and anti-cancer responses to INKmune treatment. Immune responses include changes in numbers of tumor killing memory-like NK cells in the patient’s blood and how long these specialized NK cells remain in the circulation. Anti-tumor responses will be monitored by following the level of prostatic surface antigen (PSA) in the blood. Additionally, we will leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to quantify the number and size of metastatic lesions using piflufolastat F 18 – a PSMA (prostate-specific membrane antigen) imaging agent developed by Lantheus marketed as Plarify, and by measuring circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in the blood. Up to 30 patients will receive one of three levels of dose of INKmune (low, medium, high).
The study uses a novel modified Bayesian design that allows for a 3×3 dose escalation design. Once the Phase I portion is complete, the doses that are safe will be tested simultaneously in the Phase II portion of the trial. Up to 10 patients can be enrolled at each dose level. There are two primary goals of the trial. The first is to demonstrate the safety of INKmune in the patient population, – men with mCRPC. The second is to determine which dose of INKmune should be used in a blinded, randomized registration trial. Determining the best dose of INKmune to use in future clinical trials will depend on a combination of immunologic and anti-tumor responses seen in the men treated with INKmune therapy.
The Company has manufactured all planned doses of INKmune, and these have already been released for the entirety of the Phase 1 study. Assays have already been qualified to Phase 2 standard, and the Company has planned the process for BLA-standard validation in 2025.
About INKmune
INKmune is an NK cell targeted therapy that is not an NK cell. INKmune is a product designed to improve the function of the patient’s own NK cells. INKmune is a patented, pharmaceutical-grade, replication-incompetent human tumor cell line which conjugates to resting NK cells and delivers multiple, essential priming signals, akin to treatment with at least three cytokines in combination. INKmune is stable at -80oC and is delivered by a simple IV infusion. The INKmune:NK interaction ligates multiple activating and co-stimulatory molecules on the NK cell and enhances its avidity of binding to tumor cells; notably those resistant to normal NK-mediated lysis. These INKmune-primed NK cells can lyse a wide variety of NK-resistant tumors including leukemias, lymphomas, myeloma and solid tumors including prostate, renal cell, ovarian, nasopharyngeal, lung and breast cancer. INKmune therapy does not require any type of conditioning, pre-medication, or cytokine support.