BERKELEY, Calif., Sept. 8, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aduro Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADRO) today announced that it has completed enrollment in the Phase 2b ECLIPSE trial of its novel LADD and GVAX immunotherapies being developed for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer. The randomized, controlled three-arm trial enrolled 303 patients in the United States and Canada. Top line results are expected in the first half of 2016.
ECLIPSE was designed to evaluate the safety, immune response and efficacy of the combination immunotherapy of CRS-207 and GVAX Pancreas compared to chemotherapy. The trial also included a treatment arm to evaluate CRS-207 as a monotherapy. The primary endpoint of the trial is overall survival in the primary cohort of patients who have received two or more prior therapies for metastatic disease. A second cohort of patients who received one prior therapy for metastatic disease is also being evaluated.
“This is a significant clinical trial in the pancreatic cancer field which has the potential to yield important information on the role of Aduro’s immunotherapy combination in this indication,” said Vincent Picozzi, M.D., director of the Pancreatic Center of Excellence at the Virginia Mason Clinic. “Very few therapeutic options exist for metastatic pancreatic cancer patients, especially after initial chemotherapy, and this field could benefit greatly from more varied and attractive therapy options.”
“The fight against metastatic pancreatic cancer continues to be arduous,” said Dirk G. Brockstedt, Ph.D., senior vice president of research and development at Aduro. “We are encouraged by data from long-term survivors in our Phase 2a clinical trial and look forward to results from our Phase 2b ECLIPSE trial. We would like to thank our investigators, and more importantly the patients and their families, for their participation and support in our trials and development of our technologies in this indication.”
The ECLIPSE trial was initiated following a Phase 2a trial which demonstrated efficacy of the immunotherapy combination with CRS-207 and GVAX Pancreas compared to GVAX Pancreas alone in a randomized, controlled, multi-center trial in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients. Results of the Phase 2a clinical trial, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), indicated the median overall survival of Arm A patients receiving the combination regimen of CRS-207 and GVAX Pancreas was 6.1 months compared to 3.9 months for Arm B patients receiving GVAX monotherapy (HR=0.5930, one-sided p=0.0172).
Overall, the combination immunotherapy was well-tolerated. Of the 93 patients enrolled, the most common Grade 3 adverse events were transient lymphopenia, fevers, elevated liver enzymes and fatigue.
In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for Aduro’s pancreatic cancer combination treatment consisting of CRS-207 and GVAX Pancreas based on results from the Phase 2a clinical trial of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. According to the FDA, Breakthrough Therapy designation is for a drug candidate that treats a serious or life-threatening condition for which preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement on a clinically significant endpoint over available therapies.
About CRS-207
CRS-207 is one of a family of product candidates based on Aduro’s live-attenuated, double-deleted (LADD) Listeria monocytogenes immuno-oncology platform that are designed to induce potent innate and adaptive immune responses. CRS-207 has been engineered to express the tumor-associated antigen mesothelin, which is over-expressed in many cancers including mesothelioma and pancreatic, non-small cell lung, ovarian and gastric cancers.
About GVAX Pancreas
GVAX Pancreas is one of a family of GVAX immunotherapies derived from human cancer cell lines that are genetically modified to express granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), an immune system-stimulating cytokine. GVAX Pancreas is derived from human pancreatic cancer cell lines and is designed to activate specific T cell immunity to pancreatic cancer antigens, including mesothelin.
About Aduro
Aduro Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADRO) is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies that transform the treatment of challenging diseases. Aduro’s technology platforms, which are designed to harness the body’s natural immune system, are being investigated in cancer indications and have the potential to expand into autoimmune and infectious diseases. Aduro’s LADD technology platform is based on proprietary attenuated strains of Listeria that have been engineered to express tumor-associated antigens to induce specific and targeted immune responses. Based on compelling clinical data in advanced cancers, this platform is being developed as a treatment for multiple indications, including pancreatic, lung and prostate cancers, mesothelioma and glioblastoma. Aduro’s cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) platform is designed to activate the intracellular STING receptor, resulting in a potent tumor-specific immune response. Aduro is collaborating with leading global pharmaceutical companies to expand its products and technology platforms. For more information, please visit www.aduro.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions or current expectations concerning, among other things, timing for top line results from the ECLIPSE clinical trial, the potential for CRS-207 GVAX Pancreas in metastatic pancreatic cancer and the potential for eventual regulatory approval, commercialization and launch of our product candidates. In some cases you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “expect” or the negative or plural of these words or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, our history of net operating losses and uncertainty regarding our ability to achieve profitability, our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates, our ability to use and expand our technology platforms to build a pipeline of product candidates, our dependence on our lead product candidate, CRS-207, and GVAX Pancreas, our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates, our inability to operate in a competitive industry and compete successfully against competitors that have greater resources than we do, our reliance on third parties, and our ability to obtain and adequately protect intellectual property rights for our product candidates. We discuss many of these risks in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in the most recent Form 10-Q which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate, may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Any forward-looking statements that we make in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.
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