UCB: Phase II results for CDP791 in non-small cell lung cancer support further clinical development
The primary efficacy variable was tumour response rate as assessed by independent review. A 17.7% improvement in the tumour response rate was observed between the higher dose 20mg/kg CDP791 plus chemotherapy treatment arm (37.7%) and the chemotherapy alone treatment arm (20.0%).
The risk of tumour progression was reduced by 32% for patients receiving 20mg/kg CDP791 plus chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone. Patients who received 20mg/kg CDP791 plus chemotherapy had a median time to progression of 30.1 weeks compared to 27.3 weeks for patients receiving chemotherapy alone. While progression-free survival did not show a treatment effect in this exploratory Phase II trial, preliminary analysis of overall survival is sufficiently encouraging to support further development of the molecule.
CDP791 is a PEGylated, humanised di-Fab fragment specifically inhibiting VEGFR-2 activation by its ligands VEGF-A, VEGF-C, VEGF-D. As CDP791 does not contain an Fc part, its activity is entirely due to its potent blocking ability. CDP791 binds specifically to VEGFR-2 and blocks all signaling through this receptor. This is a different mechanism of action from any of the marketed VEGF inhibitors and is a novel point of attack on the VEGF pathway. VEGFR-2 is a key component of the angiogenesis pathway involved in formation of new blood vessels supporting tumor growth. CDP791 has been shown to potently inhibit binding of VEGF to VEGFR-2 in vitro, and has been shown to inhibit angiogenesis in pharmacological models.
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