- Imugene (IMU) advances its phase one metastatic advanced solid tumours study
- The phase one trial of IMU’s VAXINIA cancer-killing virus has cleared the second cohort in both the intravenous (IV) and intratumoral (IT) arms of the monotherapy trial
- The company can now open cohort one of the combination study with Pembrolizumab and cohort three for both arms of the monotherapy dose escalation
- So far, patients treated with the lowest doses of VAXINIA have demonstrated acceptable safety, enabling new study participants to receive it with pembrolizumab
- Imugene is up 1.79 per cent and trading at 14.3 cents at midday AEDT
Imugene (IMU) has advanced its phase one metastatic advanced solid tumours (MAST) study.
The clinical-stage immune-oncology company reported its phase one MAST study evaluating the safety of cancer-killing virus CF33- hNIS (VAXINIA) has cleared its second cohort in both the intravenous (IV) and intratumoral (IT) arms of the monotherapy trial.
This means the company can open cohort one of the combination study with Pembrolizumab, plus cohort three for both arms of the monotherapy dose escalation.
Imugene announced the first patient had been dosed in IV cohort two in December 2022, with the trial continuing its “unimpeded progress” since.
The patients treated to date in the monotherapy group have received the lowest doses of VAXINIA, and the treatment has demonstrated acceptable safety, allowing new study participants to receive it in combination with the immunotherapy pembrolizumab.
“Early data arising from our patients dosed at low levels with our CF33 oncolytic virus have indicated immune activation is occurring in the tumour microenvironment, turning the tumour from ‘immunologically cold to hot’,” Imugene MD and CEO Leslie Chong said.
“This is a perfect time to introduce an immune checkpoint inhibitor such as pembrolizumab.”
Overall, the study aims to recruit up to 100 patients across approximately 10 trial sites in the United States and Australia.
Imugene was up 1.79 per cent and trading at 14.3 cents at midday AEDT.