ONCOS-102 Mesothelioma Trial Moves Forward

Oncologists in Spain are recruiting patients for the randomized phase of the pleural mesothelioma clinical trial involving ONCOS-102, the promising immunotherapy vaccine. Optimism surrounding the trial stems from encouraging results obtained recently in the six-patient safety cohort used as a precautionary lead-in. The trial involves the vaccine in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy for patients with inoperable disease. ONCOS-102 is a scientifically engineered adenovirus that is designed to activate a patient’s immune system to selectively target cancer cells. It is being developed by Targovax, a Scandinavian pharmaceutical company that focuses on developing immunotherapies for tough-to-treat solid tumors. Dr. Magnus Jaderberg, chief medical officer at Targovax, called the trial an important milestone for the company and the ONCOS program. “It will now be interesting to see if this early signal of efficacy is confirmed in the randomized part of the study,” Jaderberg said. Good Early Response Rate In either a first- or second-line setting, investigators in the trial will inject ONCOS-102 directly into the tumor lesions of the pleura, the lining around the lungs where mesothelioma typically forms. Patients will be scheduled for six treatments over a five-month period. The goal of the trial is to determine the degree of immunological activation and the overall response rate to the drug combination when compared to the standard chemotherapy regimen of pemetrexed...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news