Arix Bioscience PLC’s (LON:ARIX) portfolio company, Autolus Therapeutics, has announced positive updated safety and efficacy data for its AUTO3 leukaemia drug ahead of its inaugural R&D day in New York.
Updated data from the ongoing AMELIA Phase I/II study showed that all six patients treated at the highest dose achieved minimal residual disease (MRD) negative complete responses (CR).
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A patient who tests MRD negative has less than one cancer cell per million bone marrow cells, meaning the disease is all but gone.
Ongoing MRD negative CR remissions were noted in four of the six patients, with duration of up to 10 months as of February 2019, the date of latest data follow-up.
Nasdaq-listed Autolus added that AUTO3 continues to be generally well tolerated with none of the patients needing critical care for cytokine release syndrome – a condition that occurs with some forms of immunotherapy.
The Phase II portion of the study remains on track to begin in the second half of this year.
R&D day later today
Autolus made the announcement ahead of its inaugural R&D day in New York which is due to get underway later today.
Chairman and chief executive Christian Itin will be one of those giving a presentation, as will several other execs.
“We are pleased to be hosting our inaugural R&D day, providing a unique opportunity to present an in-depth overview of our differentiated technology, multiple programs, market opportunities and the significant pipeline progress we have achieved, to date,” said Autolus boss Itin.
“We expect to report data on all of our active clinical programs at key medical conferences during 2019. Additionally, over the coming months, we expect to move two programs into registrational trials and to progress our next generation programs toward the clinic.”
Shares in Arix, which has results out on Thursday, edged 1% higher to 145.5p in late-morning trading on Tuesday.