Sellas Life Sciences Group, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, plans to enter its lead immuno-oncology candidate galinpepimut-S into phase III trials. Galinpepimut-S in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) will begin in the first half of 2017 and the study of the treatment in mesothelioma patients is expected to begin in the second half.
The treatment has already shown an overall survival (OS) of 88% in 18 patients at 18 months, with a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 23.6 months. On maintenance therapy, these high-risk patients would normally be expected to have low PFS of no longer than 12 months following autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT).
This is exciting news for Sellas, the medical community, and mesothelioma patients in the U.S. and Europe. Per Industry Dive, “compared with a similar high-risk group of multiple myeloma patients, the patients treated with the galinpepimut-S peptide antigen mix had a 2.5-fold higher median PFS.” Said Sellas CMO Nicholas Sarlis, “we are encouraged by continued indications that Sellas’ galinpepimut-S therapy notably delays disease progression in high-risk multiple myeloma patients."
“This new data further underscores the potential for galinpepimut-S to target an array of tumor types,” said Sellas CEO Angelos Stergiou. “The data both validate our focus on targeting malignancies with subclinical disease with galinpepimut-S monotherapy, and also support the expansion of our clinical trial program to include combination approaches in addressing a wide variety of cancers." The phase II trial, which has been running since June 2014, has enrolled 20 patients, and plans to follow them long-term.
Sources
Elvidge, Suzanne. "Sellas Gives Positive Clinical Update." BioPharma Dive. Industry Dive, 02 Mar. 2017. Web. 05 May 2017.
Fernandes, Joana. "Sellas Testing Galinpepimut-S Vaccine as Potential Therapy in Blood and Solid Cancers." Immuno-Oncology News (IO News). BioNews Services, LLC, 27 Apr. 2017. Web. 05 May 2017.
