Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.MedImmune, global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, has entered into a clinical study collaboration with US-based biopharmaceutical firm Incyte.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
The Phase I/II oncology trial is designed to assess the efficacy and safety of MedImmune’s investigational anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, MEDI4736, in combination with Incyte’s oral indoleamine dioxygenase-1 (IDO1) inhibitor, INCB24360.
Both the investigational compounds are part of a new class of cancer treatments known as immunotherapies, which use the body’s own immune system to help fight cancer.
The company said that MEDI4736 blocks the signals which help tumors avoid detection by the immune system, countering the tumor’s immune-evading tactics, while INCB24360 improves the ability of immune cells to combat the tumor.
According to the preclinical studies, the combination of these two agents would lead to an imporved anti-tumor immune response.
As part of the deal, both the firms will collaborate on a non-exclusive basis on the study, to assess the combination in multiple solid tumors including metastatic melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and pancreatic cancer.
First part of the trial is expected to establish a recommended dose regimen of both MEDI4736 and INCB24360 and the second part will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination.
The study conducted by Incyte will be co-funded equally by both the firms and its results will be used to determine whether further clinical development of this combination is warranted.
Incyte president and chief executive officer Hervé Hoppenot said research collaborations that evaluate combinations of novel immunotherapies across a broad range of indications have the potential to accelerate the company’s understanding of this rapidly evolving field, to identify new areas of opportunity for immunotherapies, and to more rapidly address the unmet needs of patients with a wide range of cancers.
"For these reasons, we welcome the opportunity to work with MedImmune to explore the potential of combining MEDI4736 with INCB24360," Hoppenot said.
Recently, AstraZeneca and MedImmune have started other immuno-oncology combination trials, including MEDI4736 with IRESSA and MEDI4736 with tremelimumab.
Image: The Phase I/II trial of MEDI4736 and INCB24360 combination collaboration would lead to an imporved anti-tumor immune response. Photo: courtesy of renjith Krishnan/ freedigitalphotos.net