(Reuters) - Biotechnology company Agenus Inc said its experimental brain cancer vaccine increased the survival of patients without their cancer worsening in a phase 2 trial, compared with standard treatment.
The vaccine was used in combination with the current standard treatment of radiation plus the chemotherapy drug temozolomide to treat patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a particularly aggressive type of brain tumor.
The vaccine, codenamed HSPPC-96, showed an almost 18 month median progression-free survival -- a 160% increase versus standard treatment, the company said.
A preliminary analysis of the study in May had showed that the vaccine had a 146% increase in progression-free survival when compared with the standard-of-care.
"These additional results from the Phase 2 trial of HSPPC-96 in patients with newly diagnosed GBM are extremely encouraging and certainly justify a definitive randomized study," Dr. Andrew T. Parsa, lead investigator and chair of neurosurgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a statement.
"The patient-specificity and lack of toxicity, combined with patient selection to optimize immunotherapy efficacy, could position this vaccine as a break-through treatment for newly diagnosed GBM patients in the years ahead," he added.
The vaccine is made from cells extracted from the patient's tumor. As a result, it contains a precise antigenic 'fingerprint' of a patient's particular cancer and is designed to reprogram the body's immune system to target only cells bearing this fingerprint, reducing the risk of side effects, the company said.
Agenus plans to discuss a late-stage trial with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, based on the trial data.
"We are impressed by the data and look forward to feedback from the FDA regarding next steps," Roth Capital Partners analyst Joseph Pantginis wrote in a note.
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