“We are excited to work with Roche to accelerate the development of IO-108,” said Charlene Liao, Ph.D., chief executive officer and board chair of Immune-Onc. “IO-108 has demonstrated clinical activity and an acceptable safety profile across multiple solid tumors as monotherapy and in combination with T cell checkpoint inhibitors. The collaboration marks a significant milestone in establishing IO-108 as the preferred myeloid checkpoint inhibitor for combination with standard of care immunotherapy regimens in solid tumors.” ABOUT THE RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL
Initially, 40 patients will be enrolled across 25 sites worldwide in the IO-108 triplet combination, which will be compared to an active control arm of the atezolizumab and bevacizumab doublet combination. The study’s primary endpoint is objective response rate, and key secondary endpoints include progression-free survival and overall survival. Under the terms of the clinical collaboration agreement, Roche will manage the study operations, and Immune-Onc will supply IO-108 to support the trial while retaining global rights to IO-108. Learn more about the trial here.
According to the American Cancer Society1, more than 800,000 people are diagnosed with liver cancer each year worldwide. It is also one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for more than 700,000 deaths each year. The number of people diagnosed is predicted to rise, with the incidence of liver cancer increasing by 55.0% and the number of deaths increasing by 56.4% between 2020 and 20402. Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common form of liver cancer in the United States, making up almost 90% of cases3. Nine out of ten cases of HCC are caused by chronic liver disease, which includes chronic hepatitis B and C infection, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), and cirrhosis resulting from these conditions4. IO-108 is a fully human IgG4 monoclonal antibody with high affinity and specificity towards the myeloid checkpoint, LILRB2 (also known as ILT4). It blocks the interaction of LILRB2 with multiple ligands involved in cancer-associated immune suppression, including HLA-G, ANGPTLs, SEMA4A, and CD1d. Clinical data from the U.S. Phase 1 dose escalation study of IO-108 (NCT05054348) was presented at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting and demonstrated a favorable safety profile and encouraging clinical benefit utilizing IO-108 as a monotherapy and in combination with anti-PD-1 across multiple tumor types. IO-108 is being studied in several expansion cohorts in adult cancer patients as a monotherapy and in combination with anti-PD-1 antibodies (pembrolizumab, cemiplimab or tislelizumab). A global, randomized Phase 1b/2 study is underway to evaluate IO-108 in combination with atezolizumab and bevacizumab as a potential first-line therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Immune-Onc Therapeutics Inc. (“Immune-Onc”) is a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing novel therapies in immunology and oncology by targeting myeloid cell inhibitory receptors. American Cancer Society. About Liver Cancer. Accessed Dec. 7, 2023 at https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/CRC/PDF/Public/8698.00.pdf The latest global burden of liver cancer: A past and present threat. Clin Mol Hepatol. 2023 Apr; 29(2): 355–357.