NetScientific PLC (AIM:NSCI) has announced that its portfolio company, PDS Biotechnology Corporation (NASDAQ:PDSB), will begin an investigator-initiated trial with Mayo Clinic for PDS0101, a drug aimed at treating head and neck cancer.
An investigator-initiated trial is clinical trial where the investigator assumes the research, develops the protocol and serves as the sponsor investigator.
The trial will focus on patients with human papillomavirus associated oropharyngeal cancer (HPV(+)OPSCC) at a high risk of recurrence, and will be led by Drs David Routman, Katharine Price, Kathryn Van Abel, and Ashish Chintakuntlawar of Mayo Clinic.
NetScientific, the life sciences and sustainability technology investment and commercialisation company, said the trial will be completed with PDS0101 alone or in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda, a leading immunotherapy drug used to treat several forms of cancer.
Oropharyngeal cancer is a disease in which cancer cells form in the tonsil tissues of the back and side of the throat.
HPV(+)OPSCC is now the most common type of head and neck cancer and has been increasing significantly in recent years, NetScientific said.
"We are excited to have a team of doctors at Mayo Clinic conducting a trial to study our novel Versamune®-based T cell immunotherapy platform and lead asset, PDS0101 in earlier-stage disease,” said Dr Lauren Wood, chief medical officer of PDS Biotech.