Sillajen said Monday that it has presented the National Cancer Institute’s phase 1 interim safety study using its Pexa-Vec and AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi, as a combination therapy in treating colon cancer.

According to the research poster unveiled at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the company confirmed the safety for the intravenous administration of Pexa-Vec and Imfinzi in 12 patients with colorectal cancer with failed microsatellite stabilization (MSS) and microsatellite unstable high (MSI-H) colorectal cancer failure with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor.

Most of them showed slight side effects such as fever, chills, and fatigue.

“The company plans to recruit a maximum of 35 patients according to the progress of colorectal cancer, such as patient’s refractory to PD-1 inhibitor and patients failing primary chemotherapy,” a company official said. “We are planning to divide into two groups -- Pexa-Vec and Imfinzi, and Pexa-Vec, Imfinzi, and tremelimumab.”

With the two groups, the company will conduct clinical studies to confirm whether the combination of Pexa-Vec and immune checkpoint inhibitor increases anti-tumor immunity, he added.

Patient registration is conducted at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Maryland, U.S.

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