On July 6, 2015 Oncolytics Biotech reported that Dr. Devalingam Mahalingam of the Cancer Therapy and Research Centre, University of Texas Health Science Centre San Antonio, made a poster presentation at the ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer (Press release, Oncolytics Biotech, JUL 6, 2015, View Source [SID:1234506168]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The poster, titled "Oncolytic Virus Therapy in Pancreatic Cancer: Clinical Efficacy and Pharmacodynamic Analysis of REOLYSIN in Combination with Gemcitabine in Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma," covers final results from the Company’s REO 017 Phase 2 study.

"These data suggest that this drug combination can increase median overall survival, as well as generate an approximate two-fold increase in one-year survival rates, and a five-fold increase in two-year survival rates when compared to gemcitabine therapy alone as seen in historical data," said Dr. Matt Coffey, COO of Oncolytics. "The observation of clear overall survival (OS) benefit combined with apparent limited impact on progression free survival (PFS) is increasingly becoming characteristic of immune-based therapeutic treatments. We are incorporating this finding into both our new and existing studies to ensure we follow OS where possible."

Highlights of the data presented include:

A survival analysis for 33 patients showing a median progression free survival (PFS) of four months and median overall survival (OS) of 10.2 months;
Data showing one- and two-year survival rates of 45% and 24%, respectively; and
An analysis demonstrating upregulation of immune checkpoint marker PD-L1 in post treatment tumours suggesting the potential to combine oncolytic viral therapy with anti-PD-L1 inhibitors in future trials.

Of the 29 patients evaluable for clinical response, one patient had a partial response (PR), 23 had stable disease (SD) and five had progressive disease as their best response. This translated into a clinical benefit rate (CBR) (complete response (CR) + PR + SD) of 83%.

"This is the second cancer where we have confirmed that PD-L1 is upregulated in target tumors following our collaborators initial observations of PD-L1 upregulation in glioblastoma," said Dr. Brad Thompson, President and CEO of Oncolytics. "We are currently analyzing archived samples from other completed studies and current samples from ongoing studies to determine if this is a common effect to most cancers. A systemic viral therapy that generally led to upregulation of PD-L1 would allow increased use of anti PD-L1 drugs in cancers where there is insufficient PD-L1 to make therapy possible."

REO 017 is a U.S. Phase 2, single-arm clinical trial using intravenous administration of REOLYSIN in combination with gemcitabine (Gemzar) in chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. Eligible patients were treated with gemcitabine at 800 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8, and REOLYSIN at 1×1010 TCID50 administered IV on days 1, 2, 8 and 9 every 3 weeks. Tumor assessment was performed every two cycles. The trial enrolled 33 evaluable patients (34 total) using a one sample, two-stage design. In the first stage, 17 patients were to be enrolled, and best response noted. If three or more responses were observed (defined as CR, PR, or SD for 12 weeks or more) among the 17 patients, the study would enroll an additional 16 patients for a total of at least 33 evaluable patients. As previously disclosed, this initial endpoint was met after six evaluable patients were enrolled. The primary objective of the trial was to determine the CBR of intravenous multiple doses of REOLYSIN in combination with gemcitabine in patients with advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. The secondary objectives were to determine PFS, and to determine the safety and tolerability of REOLYSIN when administered in combination with gemcitabine.

A copy of the poster presentation will be available on the Oncolytics website at: View Source