Medigene AG announced that the FDA cleared the Company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for its lead program MDG1015 for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer, ovarian cancer, myxoid/round cell liposarcoma and synovial sarcoma in the phase 1 clinical trial (EPITOME1015-I) .
EPITOME1015-I consists of a dose escalation followed by an expansion segment and aims to assess safety, feasibility and preliminary efficacy of MDG1015 in multiple solid tumor indications.
"We are very excited to reach this milestone with our lead program MDG1015 which reinforces our ambition to become a leading company with a range of different TCR-guided therapies for patients suffering from multiple advanced solid tumor types,“ said Selwyn Ho, CEO of Medigene AG. “In preclinical studies, MDG1015 has shown strongly enhanced and persistent T cell-driven anti-tumor activity and the ability to mitigate the effects of PD-L1, one of the major immunosuppressive signals present in the tumor microenvironment of solid cancers which hinder the effectiveness of TCR-T therapies. This very first FDA clearance of an IND Application for a Medigene TCR-T therapy represents a pivotal achievement, and we look forward to commencing our MDG1015 phase 1 study EPITOME1015-I targeting multiple solid tumors, subject to additional financing.”
MDG1015 is a first-in-class, third generation T cell receptor engineered T cell (TCR-T) therapy targeting the cancer-testis antigen New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma 1 / L Antigen Family Member-1a (NY-ESO-1/LAGE-1a) with a natural and optimal affinity 3S (specific, sensitive and safe) TCR and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A*02. The TCR-T cells are further armored and enhanced by the addition of the proprietary PD1-41BB costimulatory switch protein (CSP) technology and has demonstrated significantly enhanced anti-tumor activities against tumor cells expressing varying levels of PD-L1, one of the most immunosuppressive signals emanating from the solid tumor microenvironment. Importantly, compared to first generation TCR-T therapies, MDG1015 will be manufactured with a short, 6-day cell expansion period, leading to younger, fitter cells, with the potential for a markedly reduced number of cells required during dosing and a shorter vein-to-vein time for patients of approximately 20 days. This has also resulted in a drug product with an almost pure CD8+ population and with a very high proportion of cells with stemness-like qualities (~95%) that could lead to improved durability of response, greater efficacy and reduced adverse events.
To complement the IND approval, a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) submission for MDG1015 to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is on track for the fourth quarter of 2024. Pending additional financing, the Company plans to initiate the phase 1 clinical trial EPITOME‑1015-I, which consists of a dose escalation followed by an expansion segment, by the end of 2024. Based on this timeline, the Company expects to be able to present early data from the dose escalation phase towards the end of 2025.
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