Incyte And BMS Collaborate On Combo Immunotherapies Regimen
Delaware-based biopharmaceutical companyu Incyte Corporation and Bristol-Myers Squibb announced the formation of a clinical trial collaboration to investigate a combination regimen of immunotherapies nivolumab and INCB24360 in multiple tumor types.
Nivolumab is BMS’ investigational PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor that blocks the checkpoint receptor PD-1 (programmed death-1) pathway expressed on activated T-cells. This action helps the immune system to restart and target and kill cancer cells. INCB24360 is Incyte’s oral indoleamine dioxygenase-1 (IDO1) inhibitor which possesses nanomolar potency in both biochemical and cellular assays. In vitro, the drug has demonstrated potent activity in improving lymphocyte, dendritic cell, and natural killer cell responses. The two immunotherapies will be evaluated for safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy as combination treatment in a Phase I/II study. Tumor types to be explored might include squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), melanoma, and colorectal cancer (CRC).
Michael Giordano, SVP of Oncology and Immunosciences Development, said the company remains focused on advancing its immuno-oncology portfolio. “Given the encouraging data for Incyte’s IDO1 inhibitor and our current understanding of nivolumab’s anti-tumor immune response, we see this as an important area of study to add to our broad clinical development program.”
Hervé Hoppenot, President and CEO of Incyte, said immunotherapy promises to improve standard cancer treatments and expected patient outcomes. “Given the synergistic activity we have seen with our IDO1 inhibitor when combined with checkpoint inhibitors in preclinical models, and based on our emerging clinical data, we look forward to collaborating with Bristol-Myers Squibb to explore this combination across a wide range of tumor types.”
The collaborative clinical study is expected to start in the last quarter of 2014. The study will be co-funded by both companies and conducted by Incyte. No further details of the collaboration were disclosed by either company.