6 (Plus 2!) Most Notable ASCO Abstracts So Far
May 22, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting is being held in Chicago from June 2 through 6. In preparation, most companies and researchers have already submitted abstracts of presentations and posters, giving everyone interested, including investors, an advanced look at the data. Shanthi Rexaline, writing for Benzinga, takes a look at six notable abstracts—so far.
1. NewLink Genetics
Based in Ames, Iowa, NewLink Genetics is presenting data from two clinical trials of its IDO pathway inhibitors, indoximod and navoximod, that are being evaluated in combination therapeutics in multiple solid tumors. GDC-0919 is being tested in a Phase Ib trial with Genentech ’s Tecentriq. Indoximod is being evaluated with Dendreon ’s Provenge in a Phase II trial in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer.
NewLink Genetics is currently trading for $14.78.
2. Incyte Corporation
Headquartered in Wilmington, Del., Incyte Corporation is presenting data from its Phase I/II ECHO-204 clinical trial of epacadostat in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb ’s Opdivo in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), melanoma (MEL), ovarian cancer (OVC), and colorectal cancer (CRC).
Rexaline notes that, “New data to be presented by Incyte showed that Epacadostat in combination with Merck & Co ’s PD-1 therapy Keytruda was well tolerated and demonstrated durable clinical responses across multiple solid tumor.”
Incyte is currently trading for $131.43.
3. Merus NV
Based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Merus NV will present the results of its first-in-human Phase I/II trial of MCLA-128 in solid tumors, as well as final Phase I data in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) from the Phase II part of the trial. MCLA-127 is designed to block HER3-heregulin-dependent tumor growth and survival in addition to enhancing immune-mediated cytotoxicity in tumors.”
Merus is currently trading for $19.78.
4. Syndax Pharmaceuticals
Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., Syndax Pharmaceuticals is presenting data fron the ongoing Phase II ENCORE 601 trial of entinostat in combination with Merck’s Keytruda in multiple cancer indications. The poster is titled, “ENCORE 601: A Phase II study of entinostat (ENT) in combination with pembrolizumab (PEMBRO) in patients with melanoma.”
Syndax is currently trading for $14.34.
5. CytRx Corporation
Based in Los Angeles, Calif., CytRx Corporation is presenting two abstracts, one in an oral presesntation. The first is an update from its Phase III trial of aldoxorubicin versus the investigator’s choice in patients with relapsed and refractory soft tissue sarcomas (STS). The second presentation, a poster, is an update of an ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial combining aldoxorubicin with ifosfamide/mesna (I-M) in first- and second-line soft tissue sarcomas.
“In addition to the significantly prolonged progression-free survival achieved by both North American and L-sarcoma patients, the data presented at ASCO this year demonstrate that, unlike any other drugs in this class, aldoxorubicin can be dosed continuously with minimal to no cardiotoxicity,” said Sant Chawla, director of the Sarcoma Oncology Center in Santa Monica, Calif., and principal investigator for the Phase III trial, in a statement. “Another distinct advantage is its ability to be administered to patients who have already been treated with doxorubicin. Taken together, these findings support aldoxorubicin’s potential as a superior anthracycline treatment for patients suffering with these highly complex and difficult to treat types of cancer.”
CytRX is currently trading for $0.52.
6. ESSA Pharma
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, ESSA Pharma is presenting data from the Phase I part of its ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial of EPI-506 in prostate cancer. Abstract 5032 is titled, “Efficacy, safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of EPI-506 (ralaniten acetate), a novel androgen receptor (AR) N-terminal domain (NTD) inhibitor, in men with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (ImCRPC) progressing after enzalutamide and/or abiraterone.”
ESSA is currently trading for $2.29.
Rexaline also offers up to other companies, Leap Therapeutics , which is releasing positive interim data from a Phase I trial of DKN-01 in combination with chemotherapy for advanced biliary tract cancers, and ImmunoGen , which is presenting top-line data from a Phase I trial of mirvetuximab soravtansine in ovarian cancer.