Combination cancer immunotherapies show high synergy

The pharmaceutical industry has confirmed successful clinical outcomes

Opdivo+Yerboy therapy's indication is likely to be expanded…promising results as a first-line treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

GI Innovation and TiumBio have confirmed response rates…AptaBio conducts a clinical trial of Keytruda combination therapy

Data demonstrating the effectiveness of the combination of cancer immunotherapies are being disclosed.

 

Recently, Opdivo+Yerboy therapy has been shown to improve the survival duration when used as a first-line treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

 

GI Innovation confirmed partial response (PR) using cancer immunotherapies as combination therapy in clinical trials.

 

TiumBio also observed cancer cell death in various solid tumors, including pancreatic cancer, anal cancer, and lung cancer.

 

AptaBio is assessing the potential of cancer immunotherapy Keytruda as a combination therapy.

 

According to industry sources on July 31st, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has recently applied to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for approval of Opdivo+Yerboy combination therapy for the first-line treatment of HCC.

 

Optivo is an immunotherapy for cancer treatment jointly developed by BMS and Ono Pharmaceutical, and it targets PD-1/PD-L1.

 

Optivo is currently being studied for potential use in various solid tumors in combination with CTLA-4 targeting immunotherapy Yerboy.

 

Cancer immunotherapies, Optivo and Yervoy.

Opdivo+Yerboy combination therapy was previosly approved as a first-line treatment of renal cell carcinoma, and it is being studied for potential use in various fields, including colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, and HCC.

 

The company has applied for an expanded indication to the EMA for the use of combination therapy as a first-line treatment of renal cell carcinoma.

 

Although various treatments are already available in the market, such as Avastin+Tecentriq and Imfinzi+Imjudo, different combination therapies, including Opdivo+Yerboy and rivoceranib plus camrelizumab, are challenging the market with new data.

 

The basis of approval was the Phase 3 CheckMate-9DW trial.

 

In the clinical trial, 668 patients with liver cancer who have not received prior treatment were randomized to receive either Opdivo+Yerboy combination therapy or Lenvima+Nexavar therapy.

 

The clinical result showed that patients treated with Opdivo+Yerboy combination therapy had a median overall survival (OS) of 23.7 months, demonstrating improvement compared to the control group's 20.6 months.

 

The objective response rate (ORR) for Opdivo+Yerboy combination therapy was 36%, whereas it was 13% for the control group.

 

The median duration of response (DOR) for Opdivo+Yerboy combination therapy was 30.4 months, longer than the 12.9 months of the control group.

 

The clinical results served as a foundation for Opdivo+Yerboy combination therapy to gain a competitive advantage in the market as a first-line treatment of liver cancer.

 

Korean pharma & biotech companies' combination cancer immunotherapies have shown potential in clinical trials Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies are evaluating the potential commercialization of combination cancer immunotherapies.

 

TiumBio recently disclosed its data on TU2218.

 

TU2218 blocks pathways of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which are known to hinder cancer immunotherapy activation.

 

TU2218's mechanism maximizes the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.

 

TiumBio is conducting a Phase1b trial in three clinical institutes in the United States to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TU2218 in combination with Keytruda in patients with advanced solid tumors.

 

During the Phase 1b trial, TiumBio confirmed partial response (PR) from two patients and stable disease (SD) from three patients out of five patients who are evaluable for efficacy.

 

Also, TU2218 showed an ORR of 40% and a disease control rate (DCR) of 100%.

 

Additionally, lung cancer patients had PR in addition to previously shown PR results in patients with pancreatic cancer and anal cancer.

 

In the TU2218 clinical 1b trial, three patients were found to have PR to date.

 

GI Innovation recently disclosed its data on a Phase 1/2 trial of GI-101A plus Keytruda combination therapy.

 

GI-101A's mechanism involves CD80 and interleukin (IL)-2.

 

IL-2 is involved in immune cell proliferation and activation, and CD80 plays a role in blocking CTLA4, a receptor inhibiting immune cells that attack cancer cells.

 

GI-101A is a new drug candidate developed by increasing the sialic acid content of GI-101 during manufacturing, thereby prolonging the safety and half-life.

 

GI Innovation is conducting the Phase 1/2 trial of GI-101A in combination with Keytruda in South Korea and the United States.

 

When GI-101A+Keytruda combination therapy was administered in patients with pancreatic cancer, who have liver metastasis and had failed prior chemetherapy, the pathology was reduced by 73%.

 

GI-101A+Keytruda combination therapy has also been effective in reducing pathology in patients with renal cell cancer.

 

When GI-101A+Keytruda combination therapy was administered to patients who failed 10 oncology treatments, including cancer immunotherapy, the pathology was reduced by 39%.

 

AptaBio is assessing the potential of cancer immunotherapy candidate AB-19 as monotherapy and cancer immunotherapies AB-19+PD-1 as combination therapy.

 

AB-19's mechanism is designed to block cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) within the tumor microenvironment of cancer cells.

 

In a preclinical study, AB-19 monotherapy and cancer immunotherapy as combination therapy were shown to have superior effects on reducing tumor sizes than conventional PD-1 inhibitors.

 

In April, AptaBio completed registering AB-19's patent in the United States, following in Russia and Australia.

 

The company is awaiting for patent registration in Japan and China.