Dear all,
Hello from Leslie Chong
I am excited to announce another major milestone today regarding Imugene.
Today our collaborators at the City of Hope
®, a world-renowned independent cancer research and treatment center, have dosed the first patient in the Phase I clinical trial of oncolytic virotherapy candidate, CHECKvacc (CF33-hNIS-antiPDL1).
Following the outstanding work of Professor Yuman Fong, Dr Yuan Yuan and the City of Hope team, in addition to the positive pre-clinical results, we’re incredibly eager to unlock the potential of CHECKvacc. It is timely that we see our first patient joining the trial during breast cancer awareness month, an issue that is particularly critical right now as mammograms and breast screening are down sharply due to COVID-19 restrictions. We hope that in time, CHECKvacc provides an improved outcome for the many women who are diagnosed every year. We look forward to seeing the results of this trial and bringing continued updates to the medical community and our stakeholders moving forward.
The first-in-human, Phase 1, single-centre, dose escalation study of CHECKvacc is recruiting patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). The purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety and initial evidence of efficacy of intra-tumoral administration of CF33-hNIS-antiPDL1 against metastatic TNBC. The current trial design will involve a dose escalation, followed by an expansion to 12 patients at the final dose, which will be the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D).
The clinical trial is titled “A Phase I Study of Intratumoral Administration of CF33-hNIS-antiPDL1 in Patients with Advanced or Metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer”. The Principal Investigator leading the trial is Dr Yuan Yuan MD, PhD.
Dr Yuan said: “There are limited options for triple negative breast cancer patients, a meaningful new treatment would be very much welcomed by both patients and the medical community.
"Oncolytic viruses such as CHECKvacc certainly hold significant potential to improve clinical response and survival, and we’re looking forward to investigating this drug in patients.”
CF33-hNIS-antiPDL1 is an immune checkpoint inhibitor armed chimeric vaccinia poxvirus from the lab of CF33 inventor Professor Yuman Fong, Chair of Sangiacomo Family Chair in Surgical Oncology at City of Hope, and a noted expert in the oncolytic virus field. Just this week Professor Fong was elected to the US National Academy of Medicine which is one of the highest honors in health and medicine today.
Professor Fong said: “It’s a proud moment to see CF33-hNIS-antiPDL1 (CHECKvacc) continue its progression and have this Phase I trial underway with patients at City of Hope. While we are starting the oncolytic virus in triple negative breast cancer, given the significant unmet need, it holds promise across many cancer indications.”
Please
click here to view the release.
As you can appreciate, I'm becoming even more excited about the transformational opportunities we are developing. I encourage you to continue to follow our progress.
As always, many thanks for your enduring support.
Warmest,
Leslie
(20min delay)