TARA-002 demonstrates 72% six-month landmark complete response rate and 70% complete response rate at any time across BCG exposures
100% six-month landmark complete response rate and 80% complete response rate at any time observed in BCG-Unresponsive patients
64% six-month landmark complete response rate and 67% complete response rate at any time observed in BCG-Naïve patients
80% reinduction salvage rate and compelling durability observed with 100% of patients maintaining a complete response from three months to six months across BCG exposures
Favorable safety and tolerability profile with no Grade 2 or greater treatment-related adverse events
Company to host conference call and webcast today at 8:30 a.m. ET
Dec. 05, 2024 -- Protara Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: TARA), a clinical-stage company developing transformative therapies for the treatment of cancer and rare diseases, today announced results from its ongoing Phase 2 open-label ADVANCED-2 trial. The trial is assessing intravesical TARA-002, the Company’s investigational cell-based therapy, in high-risk Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC) patients with carcinoma in situ or CIS (± Ta/T1) who are Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-Unresponsive or BCG-Naïve. The complete response (CR) rate across BCG exposures was 72% (13/18) at six months and 70% (14/20) at any time with 100% (9/9) of patients maintaining a CR from three months to six months. In addition, two of three patients maintained a CR at nine months. These results will be featured today during a poster session at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) in Dallas, Texas.
The dataset includes 20 patients who were evaluable at three months, 18 patients who were evaluable at six months and three patients who were evaluable at nine months with a data cutoff of November 19, 2024. In the pivotal cohort of the ADVANCED-2 trial in BCG-Unresponsive patients, the CR rate was 100% (4/4) at six-months and 80% (4/5) at any time. In the proof-of-concept cohort of BCG-Naïve patients, the CR rate was 64% (9/14) at six months and 67% (10/15) at any time. TARA-002 demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile with no Grade 2 or greater treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs), and no patients discontinued due to adverse events.
“These impressive TARA-002 results demonstrate meaningful activity in a difficult to treat patient population,” said Brian Mazzarella, MD, Vice President of Research for Urology America, and ADVANCED-2 study investigator. “The activity of TARA-002 across BCG exposures, coupled with its ease of use and low procedural burden for physicians, make it an exciting potential treatment option for NMIBC patients.”
“We are thrilled with these positive six-month data, which reinforce TARA-002’s potential in NMIBC, while offering a compelling product profile for physicians and patients,” said Jesse Shefferman, Chief Executive Officer of Protara Therapeutics. “We believe these encouraging data together with our international site expansion will accelerate patient enrollment, and we look forward to reporting initial data from 12-month evaluable patients in mid-2025.”
The majority of adverse events were Grade 1 and transient with no Grade 2 or greater TRAEs as assessed by study investigators. No patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events. The most common adverse events were in line with typical responses to bacterial immunopotentiation, such as flu-like symptoms. The most common urinary symptoms reflect urinary tract instrumentation effects, such as bladder spasm, burning sensation, and urinary tract infection. Most bladder irritations resolved shortly after administration or within a few hours to a few days.
The Phase 2 open-label ADVANCED-2 trial is assessing intravesical TARA-002 in NMIBC patients with carcinoma in situ or CIS (± Ta/T1) who are Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-Unresponsive (n≈100) and BCG-Naïve (n=27). The BCG-Unresponsive cohort has been designed to be registrational in alignment with the FDA’s 2024 BCG-Unresponsive Non-muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer: Developing Drugs and Biological Products for Treatment Draft Guidance for Industry.
TARA-002 is an investigational cell therapy in development for the treatment of NMIBC and of LMs, for which it has been granted Rare Pediatric Disease Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. TARA-002 was developed from the same master cell bank of genetically distinct group A Streptococcus pyogenes as OK-432, a broad immunopotentiator marketed as Picibanil® in Japan and approved in Taiwan by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Protara has successfully shown manufacturing comparability between TARA-002 and OK-432.
When TARA-002 is administered, it is hypothesized that innate and adaptive immune cells within the cyst or tumor are activated and produce a pro-inflammatory response with release of cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interferon (IFN)-gamma, IL-1b, IL-6, IL-12, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and natural killer cells. TARA-002 also directly kills tumor cells and triggers a host immune response by inducing immunogenic cell death, which further enhances the antitumor immune response.
Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the United States, with NMIBC representing approximately 80% of bladder cancer diagnoses. Approximately 65,000 patients are diagnosed with NMIBC in the United States each year. NMIBC is cancer found in the tissue that lines the inner surface of the bladder that has not spread into the bladder muscle.
Protara is a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to advancing transformative therapies for people with cancer and rare diseases. Protara’s portfolio includes its lead candidate, TARA-002, an investigational cell-based therapy in development for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and lymphatic malformations (LMs). The Company is evaluating TARA-002 in an ongoing Phase 2 trial in NMIBC patients with carcinoma in situ (CIS) who are unresponsive or naïve to treatment with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), as well as a Phase 2 trial in pediatric patients with LMs. Additionally, Protara is developing IV Choline Chloride, an investigational phospholipid substrate replacement for patients on parenteral nutrition who are otherwise unable to meet their choline needs via oral or enteral routes. For more information, visit www.protaratx.com.
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