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Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU) has opened the first Australian site for its clinical trial testing a therapy for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) – a difficult form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The company will carry out its azer-cel (azercabtagene zapreleucel) Phase 1b clinical trial at Sydney’s The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, with patient recruitment to kick off this month.
Azer-cel is an allogeneic, off-the-shelf CAR T-cell therapy which targets CD19, a protein
often found on the surface of B-cells, including cancerous cells in DLBCL.
It is also unique in using donor T-cells, eschewing a requirement for the harvesting and engineering of a patient’s own T-cells – which ultimately means faster treatment and broader availability.
Previous testing in the United States has been positive, with three patients achieving complete responses (CR), even following failure in multiple previous treatments, including autologous CAR T.
Robust clinical activity was seen in particular among patients in Cohort B of the trial, who
received a combination of azer-cel, lymphodepletion (chemotherapy)1, and interleukin-2
(IL-2). From these, two out of three of the evaluable patients experienced complete responses, with the durability of these responses extending beyond 90 and 120 days.
Managing director and CEO Leslie Chong said the opening of a clinical trial in Australia represented a milestone for Imugene.
“We’re proud to be able to bring this trial to Imugene’s home country and provide an
opportunity for Australian patients to benefit from this unique technology,” she said.
“This is the first of up to five sites we plan to open in Australia, as we seek to speed up enrolment and deliver improved outcomes in this form of blood cancer.”
Imugene shares pushed upwards on the news, and at 13:23 AEDT, they were trading at 4.7 cents – a rise of 4.44% since the market opened.
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