OncoSec Medical (NASDAQ:ONCS) dosed the first patient in a trial assessing a triple drug combination, which includes OncoSec’s TAVO, in patients with unresectable squamous cell carcinoma head and neck (SCCHN) cancer.
The trial will enroll 35 patients and is being conducted at the University of California, San Francisco. The patients will receive OncoSec’s TAVO, an intratumorally-delivered interleukin-12; epacadostat, an IOD1 inhibitor; and KEYTRUDA, an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody.
“Despite advancements in the field of immunotherapy, patients with unresectable SCCHN have had limited success when treated with anti-PD-1 antibodies as a monotherapy,” Daniel O’Connor, OncoSec’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
“Given TAVO’s ability to reverse anti-PD-1 resistance in patients with a variety of tumor types, we are hopeful this triple combination will benefit this vulnerable patient population,” he added.
The study’s primary endpoint is overall response rate, compared with historical data for pembrolizumab monotherapy in SCCHN and existing data of pembrolizumab in combination with epacadostat.
OncoSec expects to report preliminary data from this study in 2019.
