INO - INOVIO and Coherus Announce Clinical Collaboration to Advance Development of INO-3112 in Combination with LOQTORZI™ (toripalimab-tpzi) | Benzinga
- Combination therapy to be evaluated in a Phase 3 trial in patients with locoregionally advanced, high-risk, HPV16/18-positive head and neck cancer
PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- INOVIO (NASDAQ:INO), a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing DNA medicines to help treat and protect people from HPV-associated diseases, cancer and infectious diseases, today announced a clinical collaboration and supply agreement with Coherus BioSciences, Inc. ((Coherus, NASDAQ:CHRS) to evaluate the combination of INO-3112 and LOQTORZI™ (toripalimab-tpzi) as a potential treatment for patients with locoregionally advanced, high-risk, HPV16/18 positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), a type of head and neck cancer commonly known as throat cancer.
Under the terms of the supply agreement, Coherus will provide LOQTORZI™ (toripalimab-tpzi), for a Phase 3 clinical trial to be conducted by INOVIO, pending alignment with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on study design. LOQTORZI™ is a PD-1 inhibitor recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of recurrent locally advanced/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (R/P NPC).
"Existing trial data highlights the strong rationale for and potential benefit of combining INO-3112 with a PD-1 inhibitor to generate tumor-specific T cells in HPV-related head and neck cancer," said Dr. Glenn Hanna, Director of the Center for Cancer Therapeutic Innovation (early drug development program) at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and principal investigator for the planned trial. "I look forward to advancing this research for patients by harnessing their immune system to fight against this life-altering, virally mediated cancer."
"We are very pleased to be collaborating with Coherus on this novel combination therapy and are excited about the opportunity to build on encouraging data from our previous trials involving INO-3112 in HPV-related head and neck cancer," said INOVIO's President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Jacqueline Shea. "There is unique potential in combining our DNA medicines platform, which a growing body of research indicates is adept at fighting HPV-related diseases, with a proven PD-1 inhibitor to improve clinical outcomes for patients."
"We are delighted to be partnering with INOVIO on the development of the toripalimab/INO-3112 combination in HPV-related OPSCC, a tumor type that is synergistic to the current toripalimab indication in R/P NPC," said Rosh Dias, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Coherus. "With its differentiated mechanism of action, toripalimab in combination with the INO-3112 vaccine may hold promise for these patients in earlier-stage disease, where treatment options are more limited. This partnership fits in well with our strategic vision to investigate toripalimab across additional tumor types as the PD-1 backbone in combination with novel agents of multiple modalities with the goal of improving patient benefit."
About Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, commonly known as throat cancer, is a type of head and neck cancer that occurs in the base of the tongue, tonsils and/or soft palate. OPSCC is ...