Imugene (ASX:IMU) has announced 3 patients in its latest blood cancer treatment trial using azer-cel have responded well with one showing a complete response for over 100 days.
A ‘complete response’ in this case is a complete disappearance of all tumours. The company is focusing on patients with Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who have relapsed after using prior treatments before.
Three patients from two cohorts showed particularly strong reactions where tumours disappeared – a total of ten patients were involved. Recruitment remains ongoing to test azer-cel in multiple countries.
Two of 4 patients in ‘Cohort B’ – who, in layman’s terms, received a more intense chemotherapy style treatment – “[demonstrated] clinically meaningful activity and durability.”
DLBCL is an aggressive type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma – blood cancer – that is formed when the human immune system effectively begins to attack the body.
Azer-cel, meanwhile, is a product somewhat similar to stem cell therapy wherein cells from another body are introduced into a second in a way intended to mitigate the spread of cancer. To use clinspeak, it’s called an ‘allogeneic’ treatment.
Imugene got its hands on azer-cel through a deal last year with Precision Biosciences.
“I am proud of our clinical development team who assessed ways to enhance azer-cel’s durability of response, as one of the biggest challenges in CAR T therapy is ensuring that the modified T-cells stay in the body long enough to kill cancer cells,” Imugene CEO Leslie Chong said.
“To maximise the response rates and durability further, we added a very low dose of IL-2 to the regimen in Cohort B.
“We are pleased with the results, which suggest improved outcomes in patients, and we look forward to amassing more data using this dosing regimen.”
IMU last traded at 6.2cps.