Evelo Biosciences Announces Dosing of First Patient in Investigator-Sponsored Phase 2a Clinical Trial
Evelo Biosciences, Inc. recently announced the University of Chicago has dosed the first patient in an investigator-sponsored Phase 2a clinical trial evaluating EDP1503 in combination with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy. EDP1503 is an orally delivered monoclonal microbial product candidate being developed for the treatment of cancer.
This open-label clinical trial, led by Dr. Jason J. Luke, MD, FACP, will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of EDP1503 in combination with KEYTRUDA in up to 70 patients with metastatic melanoma who are previously untreated or who have relapsed following treatment with an anti-PD-1 inhibitor. Evelo will provide and retain all rights to EDP1503.
Patients will receive daily EDP1503 monotherapy for 2 weeks followed by treatment with daily EDP1503 in combination with KEYTRUDA. The study will evaluate biomarkers identified from paired biopsies taken before and after the 2-week run-in, as well as clinical outcomes observed over the course of the trial, and potential alterations to the intestinal microbiome. Evelo anticipates initial clinical data from the trial in the second half of 2020.
In preclinical studies, orally delivered EDP1503 shows activation of multiple clinically validated systemic immune pathways that are complementary to and potentially synergistic with checkpoint inhibitors. Effects include increased CXCL9 and CXCL10 production in the tumor microenvironment, augmentation of NK and T cell infiltration to the tumor site as well as upregulation of MHC Class I expression in tumors.
Evelo Biosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing monoclonal microbials, a new modality of medicines. Evelo’s product candidates are orally-delivered, single strains of microbes, selected for defined pharmacological properties. They are developed to engage immune cells in the small intestine and drive changes in systemic biology. Evelo believes that monoclonal microbials have the potential to be broadly applicable across many diseases including immunoinflammatory, cancer, autoimmune, metabolic, and neuroinflammatory diseases.
Evelo currently has three product candidates in clinical development, EDP1066 and EDP1815 for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and EDP1503 for the treatment of cancer, for which ten clinical readouts are expected during 2019 and 2020. Evelo is also advancing additional candidates through preclinical development in other disease areas. For more information, please visit www.evelobio.com.
Total Page Views: 1008
