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Galectin Therapeutics Announces Positive Top-Line Results from a Phase 1b Clinical Trial Extension of Belapectin in Combination with KEYTRUDA® in Advanced Metastatic Melanoma and Head and Neck Cancer
Belapectin and KEYTRUDA® combination immunotherapy in patients with treatment-refractory and progressive diseases shows a cancer control rate of 56% in
About this update from Galectin Therapeutics Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Belapectin and KEYTRUDA® combination immunotherapy in patients with treatment-refractory and progressive diseases shows a cancer control rate of 56% in melanoma and of 40% in head and neck cancerMelanoma patients in the study had a particularly severe prognosis, with four out of nine having choroidal primary tumors and six out of nine having liver metastasisNo toxicities deemed related, probably related, or possibly related to Belapectin were reportedSimilar to the previously announced phase I study, the frequency and severity of toxicities observed with the combination were less than the anticipated toxicity with KEYTRUDA alonePortland’s Earle A. Chiles Research Institute team, a division of Providence, led by principal investigator Dr. Brendan Curti, M.D., is further encouraged by the results that strengthen the rationale to conduct a larger, randomized controlled Phase 2 study NORCROSS, Ga., July 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Galectin Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:GALT), the leading developer of therapeutics that target galectin proteins, and the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, a division of the Providence Cancer Institute, today announced top-line clinical data from the extension cohort of an investigator-initiated Phase 1b clinical trial of Belapectin, a galectin-3 inhibitor, in combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in patients with metastatic melanoma and head and neck cancer1. The study is conducted under the direction of Dr. Brendan D. Curti, M.D., a renowned cancer and melanoma expert2. The extension study enrolled nine melanoma patients and five head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cancer patients. Compared to the initial phase 1b patients, reported earlier, the cohort in this extension study was heavily pretreated with systemic therapy, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors and cytokines, melanoma mutation-directed therapies (BRAF inhibitors and MEK inhibitors), as well as surgery and radiation therapies (external and radio-labeled). Patients also had a high burden of metastasis, with the lungs, soft tissues, and the liver being the most frequently involved organs. Four of the nine melanoma patients had a choroidal (ocular) tumor as a primary site of their cancer and had also developed liver metastasis. The treatment consisted of Belapectin 4 mg/Kg of lean body mass administered every t...