Occupier clinical trials tackle global unmet patient needs

With a hattrick of Milton Park occupiers revealing significant clinical trial results this month, we summarise their findings and how they’re seeking to tackle unmet patient needs across specific global health challenges.

Emergex announces positive trial data against Dengue virus

Emergex Vaccines, a clinical-stage biotechnology company addressing major infectious diseases, has announced positive results from its Phase 1 clinical trial of DengueTcP – a potential new treatment for Dengue Fever, which affects millions of people worldwide.

The trial found the two different doses of DengueTcP to be safe and well-tolerated, which generate specific immune responses and elicit specific T cells crucial in the protection against Dengue virus. These promising results demonstrate the potential of Emergex’s therapeutic platform to induce virus-specific immune responses to a range of specific and emerging pathogens.

Dr Athanasios Papadopoulos, Chief Medical Officer at Emergex, said: “These positive study data represent an important landmark for both Emergex and people around the world living with the risk of Dengue.

“These data demonstrate that our product platform has an acceptable safety profile and successfully mobilises viral-specific CD8+ T cells, which may elicit broad and long-term immune memory. The findings validate our approach and may change the way that people view immune responses post-treatment.”

Full story available here.

Replimune demonstrates anti-tumour activity

Replimune, a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of a novel class of tumour-directed oncolytic immunotherapies, has presented initial data from its Phase 1/2 ARTACUS clinical trial at the American Transplant Congress (ATC) meeting.

The trial evaluated the use of Replimune’s single-agent, lead product candidate, RP1, for the treatment of cutaneous malignancies in patients that have undergone kidney, liver, heart, lung or hematopoietic cell transplants. The results demonstrated meaningful anti-tumour activity with an overall response rate of 27.3%.

Robert Coffin, President and Chief R&D Officer at Replimune, said: “We are pleased with the interim data from the ARTACUS study that demonstrates a compelling overall response rate and complete response rate of 27.3% with strong durability to date that makes RP1 a potentially safe and effective treatment for these patients.”

More information here.

Summit Therapeutics presents promising data at ASCO 2023

Summit Therapeutics – a clinical-stage drug discovery and development company – has presented promising data for its novel, potential first-in-class investigational bispecific antibody, ivonescimab, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2023.

The Phase 2 study, which evaluated the use of ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, showed positive results among patients with squamous histology at a 67% overall response rate.

Based on these encouraging findings, Summit Therapeutics plans to conduct a Phase III trial later this year to further evaluate the drug’s effectiveness in lung cancer patients, named the HARMONi-3 study.

Full story here.