Bionomics (ASX:BNO, OTCQX:BNOEF) has announced that it has filed a patent application covering the use of BNC105 in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of cancer.
Adelaide-based Bionomics is focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system and cancer.
The new patent is based on findings regarding the synergistic effects in preclinical models of a combination of the company's proprietary novel oncology compound BNC105 and antibodies against known immuno-oncology targets.
"We are very happy to announce the results of these preclinical studies which suggest that BNC105 may be effectively combined with immune-oncology approaches for the treatment of solid tumours," said Deborah Rathjen, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Bionomics.
"We have filed an additional patent application in order to further strengthen the intellectual property surrounding BNC105 and enhance both its development and licensing potential," she said. "BNC105 has demonstrated that it can be safely combined across a number of treatment modalities and solid tumour types”.
In preclinical studies, animals with MC38 colorectal tumours had 40 per cent inhibition of tumour growth when treated with BNC105 as a monotherapy and 74 per cent inhibition in tumour growth when treated with an antibody targeting PD1.
Animals treated with the combination of BNC105 and anti-PD1 therapy experienced greater benefit with 97 per cent inhibition in tumour growth.
In addition, animals with CT26 colorectal tumours had 27 per cent inhibition of tumour growth when treated with BNC105 as a monotherapy and 14 per cent inhibition in tumour growth when treated with an antibody targeting CTLA4.
Animals treated with the combination of BNC105 and anti-CTLA4 therapy experienced greater benefit with 70 percent inhibition in tumour growth.
Bionomics said it aims to present these data at the Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics conference in November this year.
