Percheron Therapeutics (ASX:PER) has shared new preclinical data for its investigational cancer drug, HMBD-002.
The data were recently published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cell Reports and describe a series of experiments that involved combining HMBD-002 with radiotherapy in an animal model of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).
The work was performed in collaboration with Stanford University, in California, under the supervision of Professor Quynh-Thu Le.
SCCHN encompasses a group of cancers that affect the mouth, throat, larynx, and neck. Radiotherapy remains a key component of most treatment algorithms for SCCHN.
The Stanford researchers have demonstrated that treatment with radiotherapy increases the expression of VISTA in both tumour cells and immune cells in mouse models of SCCHN and in patients with the disease. It is thought that upregulation of VISTA represents an important resistance mechanism to radiotherapy, suppressing the activity of the immune system in the irradiated tumour.
Inhibition of VISTA, including specifically via administration of HMBD-002, substantially improved the activity of radiotherapy in mouse models of SCCHN. It appeared to do this by shifting the immune system to a ‘pro-inflammatory’ state, where it is better able to attack irradiated cancer cells. In the model of SCCHN, the addition of HMBD-002 extended median survival to 35.5 days, versus 27 days with radiotherapy alone.
“This is very encouraging data,” said Percheron CEO, Dr James Garner. “Radiotherapy is a critical therapeutic tool in the treatment of many cancers and is very widely used, but its efficacy is often suboptimal, and recurrence is common. These data suggest that addition of a VISTA inhibitor such as HMBD-002 could significantly potentiate the effect of radiotherapy, leading to better outcomes for patients.”
He added, “As the Percheron team considers different approaches to the further clinical development of HMBD-002, this data provides a very informative and very timely input into our deliberations. The Stanford team, under Professor Le’s oversight, are comprised of leading experts in this field, and we look forward to discussing the work further with them in due course."