MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, a clinical stage immuno-oncology drug development company, has announced results from a pre-clinical study evaluating the potential benefits of using MabVax's HuMab-5B1antibody, MVT-5873, currently in phase I clinical trials for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer with Halozyme Therapeutic's investigational drug PEGPH20, which targets the tumor microenvironment potentially allowing increased access of co-administered cancer drug therapies to solid tumors. PEGPH20 is currently in phase III clinical development for metastatic pancreatic cancer and in phase I clinical trials for non-small cell lung cancer, gastric cancer, and metastatic breast cancer.
Results from the preclinical study were positive demonstrating improvement in accumulation of MVT-5873 on tumors in an animal model of pancreatic cancer when administered in sequence with PEGPH20.
"Initiating preclinical investigations of MVT-5873 in combination with Halozyme's PEGPH20 provides a new potential treatment strategy combining the tumor penetration ability of PEGPH20 with the anti-tumor effects of MVT-5873," stated President and Chief Executive Officer J. David Hansen. "The initial pre-clinical collaboration combining our antibody with Halozyme's unique therapy was encouraging and more comprehensive pre-clinical studies will now be undertaken. The potential of combining MVT-5873 with PEGPH20 could represent a significant step forward in the fight against pancreatic cancer. The results of these investigations will provide insight into broader applications of the PEGPH20 technology to other HuMab-5B1 programs including the Company's immuno-PET imaging agent MVT-2163 that is also in phase I clinical trials, and the radioimmunotherapy product MVT-1075 that is planned for clinical evaluation early this year."
MVT-5873 is currently in a phase I clinical trial that is designed to establish safety and determine the recommended phase II dose both as monotherapy, and in combination with a standard of care chemotherapy using nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine. MabVax recently reported that the safety of MVT-5873 had been established at three incremental dose levels which was determined to be sufficient according to the protocol for investigators to begin enrolling and dosing patients with previously untreated pancreatic cancer receiving a standard of care chemotherapy.
MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of antibody-based products to address unmet medical needs in the treatment of cancer.