ASCO24: Encouraging survival data for Candel's oncolytic vaccine in lung cancer study
24 May 2024
ASCOClinical ResultImmunotherapyVaccinePhase 2
Shares in Candel Therapeutics surged 39% in extended-hours trading on Thursday after a Phase II study of its oncolytic viral therapy CAN-2409 showed positive overall survival (OS) data in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The top-line findings were released ahead of presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.
CAN-2409 is an investigational off-the-shelf adenovirus construct, engineered to deliver the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene to the target tumours in order to evoke an immune response.
The mid-stage study assessed CAN-2409 plus valacyclovir, alongside ongoing, unchanged immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy in 46 patients with stage III/IV NSCLC who had an inadequate ICI-response after at least 18 weeks of treatment. The participant pool was divided into two cohorts, comprising patients with stable and progressive disease at enrolment, respectively.
Survival boost
As of the April data cut-off, the combined median OS for both cohorts was 22.0 months. The group of patients with progression on ICI therapy had a median OS of 20.6 months compared with 11.6 months for standard-of-care docetaxel-based chemotherapy seen in a previous trial involving a similar population.
“Improved OS is, ultimately, what matters to patients and to the regulators,” remarked Candel CEO Paul Peter Tak.
The company also noted that two doses of CAN-2409 elicited a strong systemic immune response, evidenced by the increased number of circulating cytotoxic and memory T-cells, with the beneficial effect observed in both injected and uninjected tumours. Meanwhile, CAN-2409 had a favourable safety and tolerability profile, with no occurrences of dose-limiting toxicities or Grade 4 or higher treatment-related adverse events.
CAN-2409 had previously shown positive survival data in a Phase II pancreatic cancer trial (for more, see KOL Views Q&A: Candel’s CAN-2409 among several I/O approaches offering hope in pancreatic cancer). Tak added that findings from both studies together underscored the therapy’s potential to “convert progressive cancer into stable disease.”
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