BIND to advance squamous histology NSCLC cohort to second stage of iNSITE 1 trial

The company also announced that the KRAS mutant NSCLC arm will not advance to the second stage.

The rationale for these decisions is based on safety and efficacy data from the planned interim analysis of iNSITE 1 as well as updated overall survival (OS) data in the squamous cohort from the previous clinical trial in the broad NSCLC population, the BIND-014-005 trial.

BIND Therapeutics chief medical officer Hagop Youssoufian said: "The activity of BIND-014 as monotherapy in 2nd line NSCLC of squamous histology remains encouraging.

"There have been important advances in treatment strategies for NSCLC and we believe the evolving treatment landscape may benefit from chemotherapy in combination with checkpoint inhibitors. The safety profile of BIND-014, along with the potential to target disease sites with greater specificity, supports its development as a cytotoxic partner to checkpoint inhibitors and we will be exploring BIND-014 in this context."

As of October 29, 2015, both the squamous and KRAS cohorts had reached the predefined 20-patient enrollment mark for stage 1, triggering a planned evaluation of the data against pre-specified gating criteria for continuation to stage 2.

The major criteria for advancing to the second stage included 6-week disease control rate (6wDCR), tolerability and, in the case of the squamous histology cohort, confirmation of the OS data from the BIND-014-005 trial.

In the squamous histology cohort, data from 20 patients in the intent-to-treat (ITT) population and 11 patients from the Per-Protocol (PP) subset demonstrated an interim 6wDCR of 25 percent (95% CI [confidence interval], 9% to 49%) and 45.5 percent (95% CI, 17% to 77%), respectively. There were no tumor responses by RECIST v1.1.

The final median OS in nine patients with squamous histology from the BIND-014-005 trial was 11.1 months, confirming the interim median OS reported previously, with a 1-year survival rate of 44 percent. These data compare favorably with currently approved treatments.

As a reference, in the CheckMate 017 trial in 2nd line NSCLC of squamous histology, a median OS of 9.2 months and 6.0 months and 1-year survival rates of 42 percent and 24 percent were reported for Opdivo (nivolumab) and docetaxel, respectively.

In the KRAS mutant cohort, data from 23 patients in ITT population and 14 patients from the PP subset demonstrated an interim 6wDCR of 17.4 percent (95% CI, 5% to 39%) and 28.6 percent (95% CI, 8% to 58%) respectively, which did not meet pre-specified criteria to move to the second stage of the iNSITE 1 trial. The overall response rate (ORR) by RECIST v1.1 was 4 percent (ITT) and 7 percent (PP). Patients currently enrolled in this cohort will continue to be followed for safety and efficacy.

Safety data in more than 200 patients treated with BIND-014 to date continue to demonstrate meaningful improvements in hematologic and non-hematologic toxicities when compared to historical docetaxel data.

BIND Therapeutics president and CEO Andrew Hirsch said: "Based on preliminary data from iNSITE 1 and confirmed median overall survival data from the 005 trial, we believe that BIND-014 may be ideally suited to broaden the impact of immuno oncology approaches in the treatment of solid tumors.

"Our next steps are to complete enrollment in the squamous cohort of iNSITE 1 in early 2016 and, in parallel, begin designing a trial in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor that we intend to pursue contingent upon final iNSITE 1 results, potentially through new collaborations with development partners."

Enrollment is ongoing in the phase 2 iNSITE 2 trial with BIND-014 in patients with advanced cholangiocarcinoma, bladder, cervical and head and neck cancers. Topline data for the second stage of iNSITE 2 are anticipated in the first half of 2016.