Merck and Pfizer trial cancer combination with Australia’s Immutep

Sydney-based Immutep will develop its immunotherapy eftilagimod alpha (efti) in combination with Merck and Pfizer’s anti PD-L1 antibody avelumab in patients with advanced solid tumours.

A planned clinical evaluation will be an amendment to the existing INSIGHT phase I clinical trial and will evaluate the safety, tolerability and recommended Phase II dose of efti when combined with avelumab in patients with advanced solid malignancies.

The Institute of Clinical Cancer Research (ICCR), Krankenhaus Nordwest GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany (IKF) will be the sponsor of the clinical trial and it will be conducted under the existing protocol of the ongoing INSIGHT clinical study.

Prof. Dr. Salah-Eddin Al-Batran, the lead investigator of INSIGHT and member of Immutep’s clinical advisory board, will be the lead investigator of the trial.

The trial will investigate the two-pronged approach of using efti – an antigen presenting cell (APC) activator– to stimulate the immune system.

Meanwhile avelumab, branded as Bavencio when used as monotherapy, will increase the ability of T-cells to detect and fight cancer cells.

Bavencio is FDA approved for metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma, and is under investigation in various different tumours as part of a global strategic alliance between Merck and Pfizer.

Efti is a LAG-3Ig fusion protein, which works by stimulating dendritic cells, monocytes and then CD8 T-cells.

The activation of the dendritic cell network and the subsequent T-cell recruitment at the tumour site with efti may lead to stronger anti-tumour CD8 T-cell responses than observed with checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy.

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