French biopharmaceutical firm Vaxon Biotech has reported positive findings from the Phase IIb clinical trial of Vx-001 for the treatment of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Vx-001 is a therapeutic cancer vaccine based on antigens called optimised cryptic tumour peptides.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The results demonstrated that the patient survival more than doubled in case of a subgroup, which included subjects who never smoked or were light smokers with non-immunogenic tumours.
Initiated in August 2011 at 70 European sites, the double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIb trial assessed Vx-001 in 190 metastatic and distant recurrent NSCLC patients, who demonstrated disease control following treatment with platinum-based first-line chemotherapy.
The trial assessed overall survival as the primary endpoint, while the secondary endpoints included time-to-treatment failure and 12-months overall survival rates.
Vaxon Biotech CEO and founder Dr Kostas Kosmatopoulos said: “Preliminary results of this study suggest that Vx-001 can render sensitive tumours that are initially resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“It could also mean a potential for wider application in cancers where current immune checkpoint inhibitors are ineffective.”
The findings also showed that Vx-001 can turn cold tumours hot for using the natural immune system in response to select tumour sub-types.
Vaxon is planning to perform a confirmatory study to further assess the promising subgroup from the Phase IIb trial.
The study will include NSCLC patients who are HLA-A2 positive, negative for EGFR and ALK mutations, non-smokers or light-smokers without natural immunity in stage IV, following four cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy.
The target population is expected to represent approximately 22,000 new patients each year.
