Gancotamab(Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)

May 20, 2016 By Mark Terry , BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) ’s annual meeting, which will be held in Chicago on June 3-7, recently released its abstracts and the Boston Business Journal noted that the list included 13 Massachusetts life science companies. Let’s take a look. ImmunoGen , headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, will be presenting data from a 46-patient Phase I cohort evaluating the company’s mirvetuximab soravtansine in ovarian cancer. That trial is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2016. Cambridge-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals it presenting early results from its Phase II trial of brigatinib to treat non-small cell lung cancer. The focus is on treating lung cancer patients who have a gene mutation known as ALK+ and have already been treated with Pfizer ‘s Xalkori. Boston-based ZIOPHARM Oncology is giving interim data from a Phase I study of its gene therapy candidate, Ad-RTS-hIL-12 in combination with veledimex in brain cancer patients, specifically glioblastoma. Although a study of only seven, all the subjects had failed standard therapy. The gist of the data is that six of the seven patients were still alive after 6.8 months on the therapy. Tokai Pharmaceuticals , also located in Boston, is presenting data on galeterone. One set is data from a Phase II study in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. The other is data from an ongoing Phase III trial. Cambridge-based Infinity Pharmaceuticals is presenting posters reviewing its duvelisib and IPI-540. Both drugs are being studied in treatment-naïve lymphoma patients in various combinations with each other and other drugs. Momenta Pharmaceuticals , in Cambridge, is presenting final data from a Phase I study of necuparanib by itself and with nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients. The drug received Orphan Drug and Fast Track status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for pancreatic cancer. Vertex Pharmaceuticals , in Boston, will provide Phase I data from its trial of VX-970, a checkpoint inhibitor. It wrapped up a Phase I trial in combination with cisplatin in patients with advanced solid tumors, and is conducting two Phase I/II trials for triple-negative breast cancer patients and non-small cell lung cancer patients. Cambridge-based Merrimack Pharmaceuticals will present final data from Phase II trials of MM-302 in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, Phase II trials of MM-111 in HER2 expressing gastroesophageal cancer, Phase I studies of MM-151 in colorectal cancer, as well as data from an ongoing Phase III trials of Onivyde in patients with pancreatic cancer. Tesaro , based in Waltham, is presenting five abstracts including two on its recently launched Verubi, to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. The three other abstracts focus on niraparib, one from a Phase II trial and two from a Phase I trial, all of which focus on ovarian cancer. Syndax Pharmaceuticals , also in Waltham, is presenting preliminary data from a Phase Ib/II trial of entinostat in combination with Merck & Co. ’s Keytruda in non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma. Karyopharm Therapeutics , headquartered in Newton, will present early- and mid-stage trial data on selinexor, including a Phase II trial in brain cancer, a Phase II trial in advanced liposarcoma, and a Phase I trial in multiple myeloma. Cerulean Pharma , based in Waltham, is presenting Phase I data from its CRLX301 in patients with refractory solid tumors. Although the focus was on safety, the company’s data indicates that one patient’s tumor shrank and five patients’ disease stabilized for about two months during at least three drug cycles. Foundation Medicine , based in Cambridge, is giving two oral presentations, six poster discussions and nineteen posters. Most of them relate to the company’s genetic sequencing diagnostic tests that match patients with the right type of cancer drug. Plenty of other companies from around the world will be presenting data as well at ASCO.