VBL Therapeutics, announced full results from its exploratory Phase 2 study of VB-111 (ofranergene obadenovec) in patients with advanced, differentiated thyroid cancer. The data will be presented today by Dror Harats, M.D., CEO of VBL Therapeutics, at the Federation of the Israel Societies for Experimental Biology (FISEB) conference in Eilat, Israel.
The primary endpoint of the trial, defined as 6-month progression-free-survival (PFS-6) of 25%, was met with a dose response. Forty-seven percent (47%; 8/17) of patients in the therapeutic-dose cohort reached PFS-6, versus 25% (4/12) in the sub-therapeutic cohort, both groups meeting the primary endpoint. Reduction in tumor measurement after the first dose was seen in 44% (7/16) of patients in the therapeutic-dose cohort, compared to 9% (1/11) in the sub-therapeutic-dose cohort. An overall survival benefit was seen with a tail of more than 40% at 3.7 years for the therapeutic-dose cohort (mOS 684 days). This is similar to historical data for pazopanib* (Votrient®), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor; however, most patients in the VB-111 study had tumors that previously had progressed on pazopanib or other kinase inhibitors.
“We are encouraged to see dose-dependent responses and an overall survival benefit with VB-111 monotherapy, in thyroid cancer patients with end-stage disease whose tumors had not responded to multiple lines of therapies, including kinase inhibitors,” said Dr. Dror Harats, CEO. “This trial, together with our Phase 2 trials showing promise for VB-111 in recurrent glioblastoma and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, point to the potential therapeutic application of VB-111 across multiple solid tumors. We look forward to advancing VB-111 towards commercialization, through our ongoing Phase 3 pivotal GLOBE trial in rGBM and our planned Phase 3 trial in ovarian cancer,” added Dr. Harats.
The open-label dose-escalating study enrolled patients with advanced, recently-progressive, differentiated thyroid cancer that was unresponsive to radioactive iodine, in two cohorts. Most patients had tumors that had not responded to multiple therapies prior to enrollment, including radiation and kinase inhibitors. In the first cohort, thirteen patients received a single intravenous infusion of VB-111 at a sub-therapeutic dose of 3X1012 viral particles (VPs). The second cohort included seventeen patients, who received VB-111 at a therapeutic dose of 1013 VPs every two months until disease progression. One patient proceeded from a single low dose to receive later multiple high doses at progression and was included in both groups (for PFS only). VB-111 was well-tolerated in this study, with no signs of clinically significant safety issues.
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
