Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF) welcomes confirmation that renowned Los Angeles cancer research and treatment centre City of Hope will proceed with a fourth dose cohort in the Phase 1 clinical trial of the company’s oncolytic virotherapy candidate CHECKvacc.
The first-in-human, Phase 1, single-centre study of CHECKvacc focuses on evaluating the safety and preliminary efficacy of the drug candidate, administered intra-tumorally, in patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).
The trial has been deemed safe with no dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) or serious adverse reactions observed in the first three cohorts.
“Pleased” with results
The trial design involves dose escalation, followed by an expansion to 12 patients at the final dose, which will be the recommended Phase 2 dose.
Led by principal investigator Dr Jamie Rand, the study aims to run for 24 months and is funded through existing budgets and resources.
“We are pleased with the results that we have seen so far with no observed toxicity with early encouraging results in oncolytic virus infection and replication in the TNBC tumours,” Imugene managing director and chief executive officer Leslie Chong said.
“We look forward to continuing this study and reporting to the market of its progress.”
Oncolytic virus therapy
CHECKvacc, also known as HOV3 or CF33-hNIS-anti-PDL1, is an oncolytic virotherapy that combines an immune checkpoint inhibitor with a chimeric vaccinia poxvirus.
It is derived from the lab of Professor Yuman Fong, an expert in the oncolytic virus field and chair of the Sangiacomo Family Chair in Surgical Oncology at City of Hope.
Oncolytic viruses have the unique ability to selectively destroy tumour cells while activating the immune system against cancer cells.
They hold significant potential in improving clinical responses and survival rates for cancer patients.