Immutep (ASX:IMM), a biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapy treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases, has announced that the last patient has been enrolled and safely dosed for the second cohort of the INSIGHT-004 Phase I clinical trial.
The trial is evaluating the combination of eftilagimod alpha ('efti'), an antigen-presenting cell activator, with a standard dose of BAVENCIO (avelumab), a human anti-PD-L1 antibody, in patients with advanced solid malignancies. BAVENCIO is co-developed and co-commercialized by Merck and Pfizer.
Immutep said initial results from the cohort of the INSIGHT-004 study are expected to be presented at a major medical conference in the second quarter of 2020.
According to the trial's lead investigator, Professor Salah-Eddin Al-Batran, “We are pleased with the pace at which IKF was able to complete enrollment for the INSIGHT-004 study, especially considering the majority of the patients in the second Cohort were enrolled in just the past few weeks as the world continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are excited by the opportunity to build on the data announced to date from the first cohort of the INSIGHT-004 study, as the second cohort offers a much higher dose, 30 mg, of efti to patients.”
The company said the first cohort of six patients in the INSIGHT-004 study received a standard dose of BAVENCIO and a 6 mg dose of efti with no new safety signals or dose-limiting toxicities.
Participants enrolled in the INSIGHT-004 trial are patients with late-stage cancer who have been heavily pre-treated for advanced, metastatic solid tumours. Typically, they have no other therapy options available.