Lisata Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:LSTA) chief medical officer Kristen Buck joined Proactive's Stephen Gunnion to discuss encouraging preclinical results for drug candidate certepetide in treating intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer).
Buck explained that the study involved a mouse model with orthotopically implanted cholangiocarcinoma, separated into four treatment groups: a control group, a group receiving only certepetide, a group treated with gemcitabine, cisplatin, and anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, and a group receiving certepetide in combination with the chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The results demonstrated that certepetide significantly enhanced the effects of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, prolonging survival, reducing lung metastases, and decreasing comorbidities like ascites.
Buck highlighted that certepetide targets two specific receptors upregulated on solid tumors and helps transform the fibrotic stromal barrier in cholangiocarcinoma into a conduit for chemotherapy and immunotherapy, improving drug penetration into the tumor. These promising preclinical results come on top of the ongoing BOLSTER trial, a Phase 2a study evaluating certepetide in humans with first-line cholangiocarcinoma and a secondary cohort for second-line treatment.
"We believe that using our drug in combination with immunotherapy will demonstrate a significant benefit," says Buck. "Certepetide not only targets and penetrates tumors but also modifies the hostile tumor microenvironment, decreasing T regulatory cells and increasing cytotoxic T-cells to help kill cancer."