Net Scientific said portfolio company PDS Biotechnology will update the data from two phase II cancer trials currently ongoing at the annual ASCO conference.
The VERSATILE-002 trial is evaluating the safety and efficacy of PDS0101, an HPV16-targeted immunotherapy leveraging PDS Biotech's Versamunetechnology in combination with Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA.
The trial found that immunotherapy targeting strain 16 of the human papillomavirus shrank tumour size or stabilised the spread of cancer in 76.5% of patients who took part.
A vast majority of patients, 87.2% to 89%, survived nine months after treatment, suggesting PDS’s immunotherapy drug may prolong the lives of cancer sufferers.
The company reported that the treatment was “well-tolerated”, with 94% of patients who received four or five doses of treatment experiencing no significant adverse effects.
Preliminary data from the first 19 patients treated with the drug combination had a 41% response rate, an improvement on the 19% response rate for approved checkpoint inhibitors with a single drug.
The drug is being tested on patients with advanced anal, cervical, head and neck, vaginal and vulva cancers who previously have not responded to treatment.
Another trial is combining three drugs for cancer care, including an immunotherapy drug and two immune-modulating agents.
“Early data from the study suggests that the triple combination is preferentially active in HPV16-positive cancer,” the company said.
“Data strongly suggests, in agreement with the published preclinical studies, that all 3 drugs contribute to the clinical outcomes.”
There is no clearly established effective standard of cancer care for HPV-related checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy so far.