EDMONTON, March 24, 2020 /CNW/ - OncoQuest Inc.
("OncoQuest" or the "Company"), a privately held, cancer
immunotherapy company today announced the publication of two
reports relating to the recently completed Phase 2 trial conducted
in the US and Italy utilizing
oregovomab, the Company's lead investigational drug in frontline
ovarian cancer.
The first report which appears in the journal Gynecologic
Oncology is titled Front-line chemo-immunotherapy with
carboplatin-paclitaxel using oregovomab indirect immunization in
advanced ovarian cancer: A randomized phase II study, reported the
clinical results in the completed 97-patient randomized controlled
multi-site study in which 47 patients were randomized to receive
chemoimmunotherapy with standard carboplatin and paclitaxel
chemotherapy combined with oregovomab or standard chemotherapy
(standard carboplatin and paclitaxel).
The study was conducted with a median of 42 months follow up and
shows highly statistically significant outcomes for both
progression-free and overall survival favoring the
chemoimmunotherapy arm. The risk of progression and of death was
reduced by more than 50% in the chemoimmunotherapy arm. Safety data
shows that the addition of orgeovomab did not add incremental
toxicity to chemotherapy.
The second report published in Cancer Immunology,
Immunotherapy is titled Translational immune correlates of
indirect antibody immunization in a randomized phase II study using
scheduled combination therapy with carboplatin/paclitaxel plus
oregovomab in ovarian cancer. The report examined
translational laboratory outcomes from a subset of the Italian
cohort of patients in the above described study from the laboratory
of Professor Scambia at Catholic
University Hospital in Rome. The report confirms that
chemoimmunotherapy increased the presence of CA125-specific CD8+T
lymphocytes measured in the peripheral blood compared to
chemotherapy, which correlated with favorable clinical
outcomes. Myeloid derived immune suppression was measured by
MDSC4 (flow cytometry) and NMLR (neutrophil-monocyte to lymphocyte
ratio) and it was found that lower levels of these parameters at
baseline predicted more favorable outcomes in the patients
receiving chemoimmunotherapy compared to chemotherapy. These
findings offer promise of development of a readily accessible
prognostic indicator for guiding the therapeutic strategy for newly
diagnosed patients who would be candidates for chemoimmunotherapy
with orgeovomab.
"The publication of our Phase II clinical results in peer
reviewed journals validates the quality of the clinical data
generated from our clinical study", said Dr. Madiyalakan, CEO of
OncoQuest "We have discussed our Phase 2 results in an End of Phase
2 meeting with the FDA and based on those discussions are
proceeding with our planned Phase 3 registration trial."
The Company is currently planning to launch a Phase 3 trial in
Q2 2020. The planned Phase 3 study is expected to enroll over 600
patients with newly diagnosed, advanced ovarian cancer globally.
The double-blind, placebo-controlled trial design is expected to
incorporate analyses of the effect of the addition of oregovomab in
both the adjuvant and neo-adjuvant settings. In both the adjuvant
and neo-adjuvant arms, the primary endpoint will be to evaluate
progression-free survival of patients treated with oregovomab plus
a standard-of-care chemotherapy combination, carboplatin and
paclitaxel, compared to the chemotherapy alone.
About OncoQuest
OncoQuest is a subsidiary of Quest PharmaTech Inc. (TSXV-QPT)
("Quest") and is a private biopharmaceutical company focused on the
development and commercialization of immunotherapies for cancer.
OncoQuest's technology platform includes a portfolio of tumor
antigen specific monoclonal immunoglobulins including CA-125, MUC1,
PSA and Her2/neu. The company is exploring the therapeutic
potential of these antibodies as indirect immunizers in combination
with other immune modulating drugs or drug combinations to enhance
tumor specific immunity and clinical outcomes.
OncoQuest's lead product candidate is oregovomab, an anti-CA-125
antibody, for the treatment of ovarian cancer that has completed a
Phase 2 frontline randomized controlled study. In addition,
oregovomab is currently being studied in multiple Phase 2 clinical
trials in the relapsed recurrent ovarian cancer setting as well.
OncoQuest's anti-MUC1 antibody program has already undergone a
Phase 1 clinical trial in breast cancer patients, and its
development is being led by OncoVent Co. Ltd., OncoQuest's joint
venture partner that has licensed the rights of our
immunotherapeutic antibodies in the territory of Greater China. OncoQuest's next-generation
monoclonal antibodies are based on immunoglobulin E licensed from
UCLA, Stanford
University and Advanced Immune Therapeutics, Inc. These
antigen specific monoclonal IgE antibodies are currently in
preclinical development and all leverage OncoQuest's proprietary
insights into indirect immunization in a wide range of potential
tumor antigen associated clinical indications. To learn more,
visit www.oncoquestinc.com.
About Quest PharmaTech Inc.
Quest PharmaTech Inc is a
publicly traded, Canadian based biopharmaceutical company (QPT:
TSX-V) developing products to improve the quality of life. The
company through its subsidiary, OncoQuest and its Chinese joint
venture, OncoVent, is developing antibody-based immunotherapeutic
products for cancer. Quest has an
ownership interest in Bioceltran which is focused on SP Technology™
for transdermal delivery of drugs and photosensitizers for
pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes. Quest through its subsidiary, Madenco BioSciences,
is developing pharmaceutical products for dermatology and wound
healing applications. Quest,
through its ownership interest in OncoCare Therapeutics, is
developing an antibody licensed from University of Nebraska, AR 9.6 mAb against
truncated O-glycan on MUC16, for targeted cancer therapy
applications. To learn more, visit
www.questpharmatech.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release
includes forward-looking statements. In some cases,
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"may," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates,"
"intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar
expressions. These statements are based on management's
expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release
and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of
which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to
differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from
those set forth or implied by any forward-looking
statements. The information in this release is provided only
as of the date of this release and the company undertakes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in
this release based on new information, future events, or otherwise,
except as required by law.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
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SOURCE OncoQuest Inc.