Third Ongoing Study Examining Oregovomab in
Combination with Other Drugs in Ovarian Cancer
EDMONTON, July 26, 2017 /CNW/ - OncoQuest Inc.
("OncoQuest"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the
development and commercialization of immunotherapeutic products for
the treatment of cancer, today announced the enrollment of the
first patient in a Company-sponsored Phase 1/2 clinical study to
evaluate the use of oregovomab in combination with Hiltonol®, an
experimental TLR3 agonist acting as an immune adjuvant, in ovarian
cancer patients in the recurrent setting. This clinical trial
is being conducted at Florida Hospital Cancer Institute in
Orlando, Florida with Dr.
Robert Holloway as Principal
Investigator and at Virginia Commonwealth
University's Massey Cancer Center in Richmond, Virginia, with Dr. William McGuire as the Principal Investigator.
The clinical trial is managed and monitored by Veristat, a full
service Clinical Research Organization (CRO) in Southborough, Massachusetts.
This is the second Phase 1/2 study evaluating oregovomab in
combination with other drugs in the recurrent ovarian cancer
setting. In the first trial, which was launched in May 2017 and has accrued 6 patients, oregovomab
is being used in combination with nivolumab, a checkpoint
inhibitor.
In frontline ovarian cancer, OncoQuest recently presented
positive interim results from its randomized, controlled
multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial with oregovomab in combination
with carboplatin and paclitaxel at ASCO, 2017.
"Hiltonol® is an investigational TLR3 agonist that has been
found to stimulate both cellular and humoral immune response, and
is being tested as an immune adjuvant in a number of oncology
studies," said Dr. Madiyalakan, CEO of OncoQuest. "We will evaluate
the outcome from this study and our other study using a checkpoint
inhibitor combination to identify how best to utilize oregovomab in
this important clinical setting" continued Dr. Madiyalakan.
About Oregovomab
Oregovomab is OncoQuest's high
affinity monoclonal antibody (Mab B43.13) that is designed to bind
to the tumor associated antigen CA125 (also designated MUC16) and
initiate a cascade of immune responses against this
glycoprotein. CA125 is expressed in epithelial ovarian cancer
on the tumor surface, but is also shed into the
circulation. OncoQuest believes that carboplatin paclitaxel
based chemotherapy used in front line treatment in a precisely
scheduled combination with oregovomab can improve outcomes relative
to chemotherapy alone and is currently exploring the role of select
immune adjuvants and checkpoint inhibition to assess oregovomab's
application in advanced disease settings.
About OncoQuest
OncoQuest is a subsidiary of Quest
PharmaTech Inc. (TSXV-QPT) ("Quest"), and is a private
pharmaceutical company focused on the development and
commercialization of immunotherapies for cancer. OncoQuest's
technology platform includes a panel of tumor antigen specific
monoclonal immunoglobulins including CA125, MUC1, PSA and Her2/neu;
and the application of combinatorial immunotherapy to enhance tumor
specific immunity and clinical outcome. OncoQuest's lead product is
oregovomab for the treatment of ovarian cancer that is currently
undergoing multiple Phase 2 clinical trials. OncoQuest's MUC1
program has already undergone a Phase 1 clinical trial in breast
cancer patients, and its development is being led by OncoVent Co.
Ltd., OncoQuest's joint venture partner that has licensed the
rights of the immunotherapy technologies in the territory of
Greater China. OncoQuest's
next-generation products are based on immunoglobulin E licensed
from UCLA, Stanford University and Advanced Immune
Therapeutics, Inc. These antigen-specific monoclonal IgE antibodies
are currently in preclinical development.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release
includes forward-looking statements. In some cases,
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"may," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates,"
"intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar
expressions. These statements are based on management's
expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release
and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of
which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to
differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from
those set forth or implied by any forward-looking
statements. The information in this release is provided only
as of the date of this release and the company undertakes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in
this release based on new information, future events, or otherwise,
except as required by law.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
SOURCE OncoQuest Inc.