IMUNON, a clinical-stage company in Phase 3 development with its DNA-mediated immunotherapy, announced that the first trial site has been initiated for the Company’s Phase 3 pivotal study, called OVATION 3, of its lead candidate IMNN-001 in development for the treatment of women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer. The first trial site is Washington University School of Medicine, and IMUNON is currently initiating additional trial sites and working with investigators to begin enrolling study participants.
“This represents a significant step forward for the IMNN-001 development program as we work toward bringing patients this novel IL-12 immunotherapy, the first and only product to show meaningful overall survival benefit in women newly diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer who have not seen changes in standard of care treatment in more than 25 years,” said Premal H. Thaker, M.D., Interim Chief of Gynecologic Oncology, David & Lynn Mutch Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Director of Gynecologic Oncology Clinical Research at Washington University School of Medicine, and study-level principal investigator of the OVATION 3 trial. “It has been rewarding to be part of IMNN-001’s development for more than a decade and see the progress being made, with highly encouraging data from the Phase 2 study including in women treated with PARP inhibitors as maintenance therapy. I look forward to helping advance the OVATION 3 trial and seeing the results.”
The Phase 3 OVATION 3 trial will assess the safety and efficacy of IMNN-001 (100 mg/m2 administered intraperitoneally weekly) plus neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy (N/ACT) of paclitaxel and carboplatin compared to standard of care (SoC) N/ACT alone. Study participants will be randomized 1:1 and include women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer (stage 3C or 4) who are eligible for neoadjuvant therapy, the intent-to-treat (ITT) population, with a sub-group of women positive for homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), including BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. Participants who are HRD positive will receive poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors as part of standard maintenance therapy. The primary endpoint of the study is overall survival (OS), and secondary endpoints are surgical response score, chemotherapy response score, clinical response and time to second-line treatment. The study will also assess several exploratory endpoints.
In December 2024, the Company reported additional clinical data from ongoing analyses of results from the Phase 2 OVATION 2 Study of IMNN-001. IMUNON will highlight new IMNN-001 data from OVATION 2 in an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, being held May 30 - June 3, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois.
“Initiating the first site for our Phase 3 pivotal trial is an important milestone in our efforts to make IMNN-001 available to women who receive the devastating diagnosis of advanced ovarian cancer and are in urgent need of additional treatment options,” said Stacy Lindborg, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of IMUNON. “We are grateful for the continued dedication and support of our team, the investigators and, most importantly, the participants in our clinical trials and their families to help get us to where we are today. Together, we look forward to this next stage of development for IMNN-001, with the latest results bringing new hope that this therapy may make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”
Subscribe to our e-Newsletters
Stay up to date with the latest news, articles, and events. Plus, get special offers
from American Pharmaceutical Review – all delivered right to your inbox!
Sign up now!