Epizyme Announces Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update

On November 9, 2015 Epizyme, Inc. (NASDAQ:EPZM), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company creating novel epigenetic therapies for cancer patients, reported business highlights and operating and financial results for the third quarter of 2015 (Press release, Epizyme, NOV 9, 2015, View Source [SID:1234508107]).

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"Epizyme is well-positioned, with tazemetostat achieving proof of concept in both hematological malignancies and genetically defined solid tumors, while demonstrating an acceptable safety profile," said Robert Bazemore, President and Chief Executive Officer, Epizyme. "Epizyme is executing on our strategic goal of bringing tazemetostat to patients as quickly as possible, and we are operating from a sound financial position. Our vision is to build Epizyme into a multi-product oncology company bringing targeted epigenetic therapies to patients."

Program Summaries

Tazemetostat:

In 2015, proof of concept was achieved in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) and in patients with advanced solid tumors. Interim data from NHL patients enrolled in an ongoing phase 1 study were presented at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma meeting in June 2015 showing a 60 percent response rate in the 15 evaluable NHL patients. Data from the solid tumor patients from the same study were presented at the European Cancer Congress meeting in September 2015 reporting a 55 percent disease control rate in the nine patients with INI1-negative or SMARCA4-negative tumors who were treated at or above the recommended phase 2 dose of 800 mg orally administered twice daily. In these presentations of interim data from the ongoing phase 1 study, Epizyme reported that tazemetostat had an acceptable safety profile.

Epizyme is currently conducting a registration-supporting 5-arm phase 2 clinical study of tazemetostat as a monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell NHL, prospectively stratified by cell of origin and EZH2 mutational status. Epizyme expects to enroll approximately 150 patients in this study and to present interim data from the study at a medical conference by mid-2016.

Epizyme also plans to initiate two registration-supporting clinical trials in patients with INI1-negative tumors or synovial sarcoma, including a registration-supporting phase 2 study of tazemetostat in adult patients, and a proof-of-concept phase 1 trial in pediatric patients, both of which are on track to begin in the fourth quarter of 2015.

In the first half of 2016, Epizyme plans to initiate additional clinical evaluations of tazemetostat as a combination therapy, including a phase 1/2 study with R-CHOP in front-line high-risk patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and a combination study with a B-cell signaling agent or immuno-oncology agent in B-cell lymphoma.

Pinometostat:

A dose-escalation study of pinometostat in pediatric patients with MLL-r acute leukemia is ongoing and enrollment in the dose escalation cohorts is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2015. Epizyme anticipates presenting final study results after all patients conclude treatment and related data analyses are complete.

Epizyme and Celgene are exploring the potential clinical development of pinometostat in combination with other agents based on encouraging preclinical data.

Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Collaboration Revenue: Collaboration revenue was $0.4 million in the third quarter of 2015 and $2.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared with $8.2 million and $31.1 million in the comparable periods of 2014. The decrease in collaboration revenue primarily reflects the completion of a significant portion of our performance obligations under our collaborations during 2014 and achievement of a $3.0 million milestone under our agreement with GlaxoSmithKline during 2014. We expect to recognize an additional $2.4 million of deferred revenue related to the Celgene agreement through December 31, 2016 as we complete our pinometostat phase 1 clinical trials.

R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $16.8 million for the third quarter 2015 and $94.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared to $22.2 million and $55.1 million for the comparable periods of 2014. Costs related to the expansion of tazemetostat clinical trials and related EZH2 activities and the $40.0 million upfront payment to Eisai in the first quarter of 2015 were partially offset by reductions in external spending on pinometostat and discovery and preclinical programs during the nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared to the same period of the prior year. Epizyme expects development expenses will continue to increase in 2015 as compared to 2014 since the Company is now solely responsible for funding tazemetostat clinical trials and related development costs outside of Japan. These increased expenses are likely to be partially offset by decreases in spending for pinometostat.

G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $6.7 million for the third quarter of 2015 and $17.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared with $5.7 million and $15.9 million in the comparable periods in 2014. The increase in G&A expense was primarily related to higher personnel-related expenses and an increase in patent filings and related professional fees.

Net Loss: Net loss was $23.1 million in the third quarter 2015 and $110.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 compared with $19.7 million and $40.0 million in the comparable periods in 2014.

Cash and Cash Equivalents: Cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2015 were $229.9 million, compared with $190.1 million as of December 31, 2014. Epizyme’s follow-on public offering in March 2015 raised $117.0 million in proceeds before expenses and the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option provided an additional $13.7 million in proceeds before expenses. The company received an upfront payment of $10.0 million under the amended and restated collaboration and license agreement with Celgene in July 2015. The company expects that, based on its current operating plan, cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through at least the end of the second quarter of 2017.

Shares Outstanding: Shares outstanding as of September 30, 2015 were 41.7 million. Weighted average shares outstanding were 41.5 million and 39.2 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 respectively and 33.7 million and 32.6 million for the comparable periods in 2014.

Conference Call Information

Epizyme will host a conference call and live audio webcast today at 8:00 a.m. ET to discuss third quarter 2015 financial results and provide a corporate update. To participate in the conference call, please dial (877) 844-6886 (domestic) or (970) 315-0315 (international) and refer to conference ID 67279629. The live webcast can be accessed under "Events and Presentations" in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at www.epizyme.com

The archived webcast will be available on the Company’s website beginning approximately two hours after the event.

About Epizyme, Inc.

Epizyme, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company creating novel epigenetic therapeutics for cancer patients. Epizyme has built a proprietary product platform that the Company uses to create small molecule inhibitors of chromatin modifying proteins (CMPs), such as histone methyltransferases or HMTs. CMPs are part of the system of gene regulation, referred to as epigenetics, that controls gene expression. Genetic alterations can result in changes to the activity of CMPs, making them oncogenic (cancer-causing). By focusing on the genetic drivers of cancers, Epizyme’s targeted science seeks to match the right medicines with the right patients.

For more information, visit www.epizyme.com and connect with us on Twitter at @EpizymeRx.

About EZH2 in Cancer

EZH2 is a histone methyltransferase that is increasingly understood to play a potentially oncogenic role in a number of cancers. These include Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, rhabdoid tumors and other INI1-deficient cancers such as epithelioid sarcomas and synovial sarcoma as well as a range of other solid tumors.

About Tazemetostat

Epizyme is developing tazemetostat for the treatment of patients with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and patients with INI1-deficient solid tumors. Tazemetostat is a first-in-class small molecule inhibitor of EZH2 created by Epizyme using its proprietary product platform. In many human cancers, aberrant EZH2 enzyme activity results in misregulation of genes that control cell proliferation resulting in the rapid and unconstrained growth of tumor cells. Tazemetostat is the WHO International Non-Proprietary Name (INN) for EPZ-6438.

Additional information about this program, including clinical trial information, may be found here: View Source

About Pinometostat

Epizyme is developing pinometostat, a small molecule inhibitor of DOT1L created with Epizyme’s proprietary product platform, for the treatment of patients with acute leukemia in which the MLL gene is rearranged due to a chromosomal translocation (MLL-r). Due to these rearrangements, DOT1L is misregulated, resulting in the increased expression of genes causing leukemia. Pinometostat is the WHO International Non-Proprietary Name (INN) for compound EPZ-5676.

Epizyme believes that pinometostat was the first HMT inhibitor to enter human clinical development. Epizyme is currently conducting a phase 1 study of pinometostat in pediatric patients with rearrangements of the MLL gene. Additional information about this ongoing phase 1 study can be found here:

View Source

Pinometostat has been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. and by the European Commission in Europe.

Epizyme retains all U.S. rights to pinometostat and has granted Celgene an exclusive license to pinometostat outside of the U.S.

Mechanistic Rationale for CYC065, Cyclacel’s CDK2/9 Inhibitor, in Targeted Solid Tumors and Hematological Malignancies Presented at AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference

On November 09, 2015 Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:CYCC) (Nasdaq:CYCCP) ("Cyclacel" or the "Company"), reported the presentation of preclinical data demonstrating the mechanistic rationale for the development of CYC065 in targeted solid tumors and leukemias (Press release, Cyclacel, NOV 9, 2015, View Source [SID:1234508106]). CYC065 is a highly-selective, second-generation cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor targeting CDK2- and CDK9-dependent tumors. The data were presented at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC AACR-NCI-EORTC (Free AACR-NCI-EORTC Whitepaper) International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics (EORTC-NCI-AACR) (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) (Free EORTC-NCI-AACR Whitepaper), taking place November 5-9, 2015, in Boston.

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"Through our understanding of the mechanism of action of CYC065 we have identified CDK2- and CDK9-dependent tumors against which CYC065 is predicted to have activity," said Spiro Rombotis, Cyclacel’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "These cancer types include hematological cancers, such as MLL-rearranged (MLLr) leukemias, MYC-driven lymphomas or solid tumors, and also cancers in which Cyclin E amplification is observed, such as drug resistant and poor prognosis breast and uterine cancers. In addition, we have identified approved and investigational anticancer agents, including our own sapacitabine, which exhibit a synergistic effect when combined with CYC065. A first-in-human, Phase 1 clinical trial with CYC065 has commenced and we look forward to reporting data from this study."

Data presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC (Poster no. B182) demonstrated the mechanistic rationale for clinical development of CYC065 in oncology. Relevant solid tumor and hematologic malignancies were identified, including those with amplification or overexpression of Cyclin E (the partner of CDK2), those driven by CDK9-dependent oncogenic and leukemogenic pathways, such as acute leukemias driven by MLLr and MYC overexpressing tumors. Clinically relevant synergistic combinations were identified and the mechanism of action of CYC065 as a single agent elucidated. The anticancer activity of CYC065 was evaluated in in vitro assays of human acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines to demonstrate the pro-apoptotic mechanism of CYC065 and determinants of cellular sensitivity. CYC065 induced rapid apoptosis by inhibition of expression of CDK9-dependent oncogenic transcripts, including MCL-1 and MYC. CYC065’s potent anticancer activity was confirmed in AML xenograft animal models.

CYC065 was highly synergistic in combination with Bcl-2 inhibitors, such as venetoclax (ABT-199/GDC-0199), in both AML and acute lymphoblastic leukemias. CYC065 was also synergistic in combination with Cyclacel’s sapacitabine in breast cancer cell lines, as was the case with seliciclib, Cyclacel’s first generation CDK2/9 inhibitor.

An oral regimen of seliciclib and sapacitabine is being evaluated in an on-going Phase 1 study of patients with Homologous Recombination (HR) repair-deficient breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers, including BRCA positive tumors. CYC065 is in a first-in-human, Phase 1 clinical trial.

AVEO Oncology Reports Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results and Provides Business Update

On November 9, 2015 AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ:AVEO) reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015 and provided a business update (Press release, AVEO, NOV 9, 2015, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2110273 [SID:1234508102]).

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"We completed partnerships for two of AVEO’s lead programs in the third quarter in addition to making progress toward our proposed plans to submit a European Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for tivozanib in renal cancer and initiate a pivotal study in this indication in the U.S.," said Michael Bailey, president and chief executive officer. "As we work through recently initiated discussions with the SEC, we remain focused on executing against our goals through the balance of the year, including exploring potential partnership opportunities for tivozanib in Europe, while maintaining our very lean organization."

Prior to the submission of an MAA filing with the European Medicines Agency, the Company is seeking to complete a partnership agreement for tivozanib in Europe. If a partnership is completed, in order to provide a potential partner with the opportunity to submit the application on its own behalf, AVEO now anticipates that a submission would take place in the first quarter of 2016. Furthermore, assuming the availability of financial resources from this or other activities, the Company also now expects to initiate its Phase 3 U.S. pivotal study of tivozanib in patients with renal cancer early in the first quarter of 2016.

AVEO also announced today that the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Company recently entered into discussions for the settlement of potential claims that the Commission may bring against the Company asserting that the Company previously violated federal securities laws by omitting to disclose to investors a recommendation made to the Company by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May 2012. While the Company has commenced such discussions, it cannot predict their outcome, nor can it provide assurance that the Company will be able to resolve any potential claims of the Commission or that any potential settlement will not have a material adverse impact on the Company’s proposed plans or its financial position or results of operations.

Recent Highlights

Announced Exclusive Worldwide License Agreement for the Development and Commercialization of AV-380 and Related Antibodies. In August, AVEO announced an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with Novartis for the development and commercialization of AVEO’s first-in-class, potent, humanized inhibitory antibody targeting growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), AV-380, and related antibodies, including modified or derivative forms of any such antibody (the "Product"). Under terms of the agreement, AVEO has received an upfront payment of $15 million. Additionally, AVEO is eligible to receive $3.45 million in inventory reimbursement, and clinical, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments totaling $308 million, assuming successful advancement of the Product. AVEO will also be eligible to receive tiered royalties on product sales ranging from high single digits to a low double-digit. Novartis is responsible for all clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization activities and costs associated with the Product.

Announced Exclusive Licensing Agreement with Pharmstandard for Tivozanib in Russia, Ukraine and CIS. In August, AVEO announced that it had entered into an exclusive license agreement with a subsidiary of Pharmstandard Group for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of tivozanib in the territories of Russia, Ukraine and the Commonwealth of Independent States, for all indications excluding non-oncology ocular conditions. Under the terms of the agreement, AVEO has received $1 million in an upfront payment and Pharmstandard is obligated to pay AVEO an additional $0.5 million upon the registration of the agreement with Federal Services for Intellectual Property in Russia. AVEO is also eligible to receive up to $7.5 million in connection with the first marketing authorization of tivozanib in Russia, $3.0 million for each additional approved indication thereafter and a high single-digit royalty on net sales in the above mentioned territories. Pharmstandard will be responsible for all activities and costs associated with the further development, regulatory filings, health services and commercialization of tivozanib in the specified territories. A percentage of all upfront, milestone and royalty payments received by AVEO are due to Kyowa Hakko Kirin as a sublicensing fee.

Third Quarter 2015 Financial Highlights

AVEO ended Q3 2015 with $37.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.

Total collaboration revenue was approximately $15.2 million compared with $0.9 million for Q3 2014. The increase was primarily due to $15.0 million in revenue recognized in connection with the Company’s out-licensing agreement with Novartis, which was executed in August 2015.

Research and development (R&D) expense was $4.5 million compared with $8.5 million for Q3 2014. The decrease in R&D expense was primarily due to a reduction in personnel-related expenses following AVEO’s January 2015 strategic restructuring, the reduction of the Company’s leased facilities, as well as a decrease in external clinical trial and consulting costs associated with decreased clinical development activity and AV-380 preclinical development activity. This is offset by a $1.5 million increase in in-licensing expense associated with a milestone payment incurred upon signing the Company’s agreement with Novartis.

General and administrative (G&A) expense was $2.2 million compared with $5.1 million for Q3 2014. The decrease in G&A expense was primarily due to a reduction in external legal costs associated with various ongoing legal matters and a decrease in employee compensation, facilities and IT costs following the Company’s January 2015 restructuring and the reduction of its leased facilities.
Restructuring and lease exit expense was $0 for Q3 2015 compared with $1.4 million for Q3 2014. The expense incurred during Q3 2014 related to charges incurred following the partial termination of the Company’s 650 E. Kendall Street facility lease.

Net income for Q3 2015 was $7.9 million, or $0.14 per basic and diluted share compared with a net loss of $14.4 million or $0.28 per basic and diluted share for Q3 2014.

Updated Financial Guidance

AVEO believes that its cash resources would allow the Company to fund current operations through the fourth quarter of 2017. This estimate does not include payment of potential licensing milestones or the costs of conducting any contemplated clinical trials and assumes no milestone payments from the Company’s partners, additional funding from new partnership agreements, equity financings, debt financings or accelerated repayment thereof or further sales of equity under the Company’s ATM. In addition, AVEO cannot estimate the impact on its cash resources of a settlement of claims with the SEC. The timing and nature of activities contemplated for 2015 and thereafter will be conducted subject to the availability of sufficient financial resources.

ArQule Presents Data on Tivantinib and Propietary Pipeline at AACR-NCI-EORTC Conference

On November 09, 2015 ArQule, Inc. (Nasdaq:ARQL) reported the results of preclinical and clinical studies focusing on tivantinib, ARQ 087, ARQ 092, and ARQ 751 (Press release, ArQule, NOV 9, 2015, View Source [SID:1234508101]). The data were presented at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC meeting on November 7th, 2015. The poster presentations can be accessed in the "Investor and Media" section of our website, www.arqule.com, under "Recent Data Presentations."

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For the first time, data from an exploratory sub-analysis of the MARQUEE trial with tivantinib in non-small cell lung cancer in patients with advanced disease and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations were presented. The data showed tivantinib, when added to erlotinib, increased progression-free survival to 13 months compared to 7.5 months in the erlotinib plus placebo arm. The sub-analysis included 109 patients of which 56 were in the combination tivantinib plus erlotinib arm of the trial. The data were highlighted in an AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) press release and press conference.

"The data from the sub-analysis of the MARQUEE trial supports our focus on precision medicine," said Brian Schwartz, M.D., Head of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer at ArQule. "Although the study did not meet its primary endpoint, this analysis is encouraging and offers evidence that tivantinib when dosed in a specific patient population can provide substantial benefit."

Additionally, the company presented pre-clinical and clinical data on its early stage proprietary pipeline that support ArQule’s efforts to address the needs of patients in therapeutic areas of high unmet need through precision medicine. Data presented on FGFR inhibitor, ARQ 087, demonstrate that FGFR2 dysregulation correlates with efficacy and supports the on-going phase 2 trial in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Similarly, data presented on AKT inhibitors, ARQ 092 and ARQ 751, demonstrate that both drugs inhibit AKT and provide strong rationale for further studies in patients harboring AKT1 and PI3K mutations.

"Data presented at this year’s AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC conference are part of ArQule’s translational effort to connect preclinical and clinical research and guide a true precision medicine endeavor," said Giovanni Abbadessa, Vice President of Clinical Development, Translational Medicine and Medical Affairs at ArQule. "Both ARQ 092 and ARQ 087 have shown single-agent activity in vitro, in vivo and in patients in cancers driven by genetic alterations of their respective targets, AKT and FGFR. In addition, these pre-clinical data find confirmation in the clinical results achieved by ARQ 087 and ARQ 092 in their respective phase 1 clinical trials in genetically-altered endometrial and breast cancer and in FGFR2-driven cholangiocarcinoma, respectively. Combinability data reported for both experimental drugs with standard therapies may allow even more development options for the future."

Precision Medicine

Tivantinib is enrolling in two biomarker-driven phase 3 trials, METIV-HCC and JET-HCC. ARQ 087 is enrolling in a biomarker-driven phase 2 trial in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) with FGFR translocations. ARQ 092 is enrolling in a phase 1b biomarker-driven trial in patients with AKT and PI3K activating mutations including patients with breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers.

About MET and tivantinib (ARQ 197)

Tivantinib is an orally administered, selective inhibitor of MET, a receptor tyrosine kinase, which is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials. In healthy adult cells, MET can be present in normal levels to support natural cellular function, but in cancer cells, MET can be inappropriately and continuously activated. When abnormally activated, MET plays multiple roles in aspects of human cancer, including cancer cell growth, survival, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. The activation of certain cell signaling pathways, including MET, has also been associated with the development of resistance to anti-EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) antibodies such as cetuximab and panitumumab.

Pre-clinical data have demonstrated that tivantinib inhibits MET activation in a range of human tumor cell lines and shows anti-tumor activity against several human tumor xenografts. In clinical trials to date, treatment with tivantinib has been generally well tolerated and has shown clinical activity in a number of tumors. Tivantinib has not yet been approved for any indication in any country.

In December 2008, ArQule and Daiichi Sankyo signed a license, co-development and co-commercialization agreement for tivantinib in the U.S., Europe, South America and the rest of the world, excluding Japan, China (including Hong Kong), South Korea and Taiwan.

About the AKT Pathway, ARQ 092 and ARQ 751

ARQ 092 and ARQ 751 are orally available, selective small molecule inhibitors of the AKT kinase. The AKT pathway when abnormally activated is implicated in multiple oncogenic processes such as cell proliferation and apoptosis. This pathway has emerged as a target of potential therapeutic relevance for compounds that inhibit its activity, which has been linked to a variety of cancers as well as to select non-oncology indications.

ARQ 092, the lead compound in ArQule’s AKT program, has completed Phase 1a clinical testing and has advanced into Phase 1b expansion testing in cohorts of patients with endometrial cancer, lymphoma and tumors harboring either AKT or PI3K mutations. A number of next-generation compounds in the Company’s AKT program are in early to late stages of pre-clinical development. The company plans to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application by the end of 2015 for ARQ 751, a next generation AKT inhibitor.

About FGFR and ARQ 087

ARQ 087 is a multi-kinase inhibitor designed to preferentially inhibit the fibroblast growth factor receptor ("FGFR") family with demonstrated efficacy in FGFR2 amplified tumors. The FGFR pathway is disrupted in several ways in human cancer, thus providing numerous therapeutic targets for an inhibitor of this pathway. ARQ 087 has demonstrated inhibition of tumor growth and downstream signaling in vivo in tumors whose growth is driven by these targets.

Signals of single agent activity with this compound were observed in Phase 1a testing. Phase 1b expansion cohorts with ARQ 087 include patients with cholangiocarcinoma and adrenocortical tumors, as well as those with FGFR translocations, amplification and mutations. Clinical development of ARQ 087 has advanced into Phase 2 for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma ("iCCA") following the observation of two confirmed partial responses in this patient population in the Phase 1 portion of the program.

Kite Pharma Initiates Phase 2 Clinical Study of KTE-C19 (ZUMA-2) in Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma (r/r MCL) to Support Registration for a Second Indication

On November 9, 2015 Kite Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:KITE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing engineered autologous T cell therapy (eACT) products for the treatment of cancer, reported that it has initiated a phase 2 clinical study of KTE-C19 (ZUMA-2) for the treatment of r/r MCL (Press release, Kite Pharma, NOV 9, 2015, View Source [SID:1234508138]).

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KTE-C19 is an investigational therapy in which a patient’s T cells are genetically modified to express a chimeric antigen receptor designed to target the antigen CD19, a protein expressed on the cell surface of B-cell lymphomas and leukemias. In addition to ZUMA-2, Kite recently initiated a phase 2 clinical study of KTE-C19 (ZUMA-1) in patients with refractory, aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).

"This phase 2 study in r/r MCL will address an unmet need in patients who have failed prior therapies," said Arie Belldegrun, M.D., FACS, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition to ZUMA-1 in refractory, aggressive NHL and ZUMA-2 in r/r MCL, we expect to initiate two additional pivotal KTE-C19 studies in acute lymphoblastic leukemia by the end of this year."

ZUMA-2 will proceed as a single arm, open-label, multi-center study, designed to determine the efficacy and safety of KTE-C19 in patients with MCL whose disease is refractory to or has relapsed following anthracycline- or bendamustine-containing chemotherapy and anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy and ibrutinib. This study plans to enroll 70 subjects. Additional details about this study will soon be posted to ClinicalTrials.gov.