HPV cancer vaccine teamed up with blockbuster PD-L1 antibody to treat advanced cervical cancer and achieve 64% disease control rate

Nykode Therapeutics (Nykode) announced positive results from a Phase 2 clinical trial of its therapeutic cancer vaccine VB116 in combination with the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab in patients with human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16)-positive advanced cervical canc.

Cervical cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide and is most often diagnosed between the ages of 35 and 4 Around 600,000 women worldwide are diagnosed with cervical cancer each ye.

VB116 is a DNA plasmid vaccine expressing the HPV16 antigen that utilizes Nykode Therapeutics' proprietary modular Vaccibody technology platform to induce rapid, robust and durable specificity through targeted delivery of the antigen into antigen presenting cells (APCs) immune respon.

▲Nykode's DNA plasmid vaccine platform (Image source: Nykode's official website)

Notably, antitumor activity was observed in both PD-L1-positive (ORR 27%, DCR 77%) and PD-L1-negative patients (ORR 17%, DCR 58.

Immunological analysis of peripheral T-cell responses showed that HPV16-specific IFNγ T-cell immune responses were increased after vaccination in most subjects and correlated with clinical benef.

"Although checkpoint inhibitors have shown clinical efficacy in some patients, therapeutic progress in advanced cervical cancer has been limited and unmet need remains hi.

references:

[1] Nykode Therapeutics announces positive interim results from its Phase 2 trial with VB116 in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab in advanced cervical canc.