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NantKwest Doses First Patient in Phase 2 Single-Arm Trial of Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma Therapy With Off-the-Shelf CD16 Natural Killer Cells
Clinical trial for patients failing checkpoint therapy uses combination of first-in-class, cryopreserved, CD16 NK cells, ImmunityBio’s IL-15 superagonist and
About this update from Immunitybio, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nClinical trial for patients failing checkpoint therapy uses combination of first-in-class, cryopreserved, CD16 NK cells, ImmunityBio’s IL-15 superagonist and checkpoint inhibitor Avelumab\n\n EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nNantKwest, Inc. (Nasdaq: NK), a next-generation, clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on harnessing the unique power of our immune system using natural killer (NK) cells to treat cancer and infectious diseases, today announced dosing of the first patient in a Phase 2 trial for second- and third-line Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) in patients who are refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors. The trial will evaluate the Company’s first-in-class, off-the-shelf CD16-targeted natural killer (haNK) cells in combination with ImmunityBio’s IL-15 superagonist N-803 and Avelumab.\n\n\nMCC is a rare and aggressive skin cancer that arises from uncontrolled growth of cells in the skin. Increasing in incidence, approximately 2,500 new cases are reported in the U.S. each year. Patients with metastatic or locally advanced MCC have an extremely poor prognosis, with less than 20% of patients surviving longer than five years. Typically, these patients are treated with a range of drugs, including chemotherapy, which can result in significant side effects. Although new immune therapies have the potential to improve survival, Merkel cell carcinoma is still fatal for a majority of patients who have progressed on or after treatment with a checkpoint inhibitor and represents an unmet medical need.\n\n\n“With over 70% of patients failing checkpoint inhibitors in solid tumors, it is vital to develop novel and effective therapeutic options,” said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., chairman and CEO of NantKwest and ImmunityBio. “Checkpoint and CAR-T therapies only target the T cell, which is a small portion of effector killer cells, and often result in substantial side effects. These side effects make those therapies unusable for many patients. Our combination therapy is designed to activate the innate immune system to create an immunological memory against tumors, resulting in immunogenic cell death.”\n\n\n“We have now established the first-in-class, cryopreserved CD16 NK-92 cell line, which can be manufactured under GMP conditions at scale. Having accomplished this development and manufacturing milestone in the field of NK cell...