SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI, USA, October 10, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Immunophotonics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotech company focused on the discovery and development of novel immune-activating drugs, along with Dr. Robert CG Martin II, M.D, PhD, PACS, who serves as the Principal Investigator and National Coordinating Investigator at the University of Louisville, announced that the first patient has been dosed with IP-001 in the United States under Immunophotonics' Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA. The patient is enrolled in the company's multi-national clinical trial, IP-IIO-622 / INJECTABL-1, at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. This trial, which is sponsored by Immunophotonics, will assess the safety, immunological responses, and mechanism of action of its lead asset, IP-001, in multiple solid tumor indications.
Immunophotonics is currently enrolling patients for treatment of colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. The U.S. trial sites will play a key role in this multi-national trial and will join other sites in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom that are already enrolling patients.
"We are pleased to have dosed our first patient in the United States and to be working with Dr. Martin and the team at the University of Louisville," stated Immunophotonics CEO Lu Alleruzzo. "This is an important milestone for our company as we continue to advance our lead asset through early clinical development."
Expanding on the importance of this milestone, Dr. Martin, the national coordinating investigator for the trial in the U.S., remarked, "We are excited to be working with Immunophotonics on this important clinical trial. IP-001 has the potential to be a transformative treatment for patients with solid tumors, and we look forward to evaluating its safety and efficacy in this Phase 1/2 study." Ultimately, the goal of this study is to address the significant unmet medical need surrounding of oligo- or systemic progression following first line therapy.
Jonathan Knowles, Ph.D., a member of the Immunophotonics Board of Directors and a pharmaceutical industry veteran with prior high-level posts at Roche and Genentech, observed: “Immunophotonics has a unique and completely novel approach to treating serious cancers through immune stimulation administered in conjunction with commonplace interventional radiology procedures. Following early promising results, I am very interested in seeing the data from these larger clinical trials in the U.S. and Europe.”
The principal objective of the current study is to evaluate the immunologically mediated anticancer effects of Immunophotonics’ lead drug candidate, IP-001, following the use of thermal ablation in patients with advanced solid tumors. Thermal ablation is an approved and well-established procedure that is readily available at most hospitals and clinics around the globe. While ablation is routinely used to reduce a patient’s tumor burden and eliminate targeted tumors, the effects of this routine intervention are local, with limited immunological benefits. This new strategy could provide such benefits to patients by driving a more prominent adaptive immune response following tumor ablation – igniting the body’s immune system to attack cancer at the site of ablation and beyond and eliminating micrometastases, which are the main cause of post-procedure oligo- and systemic progression.
More information about IP-IIO-622 / INJECTABL-1 clinical trials and enrollment can be found at: clinicaltrials.gov
About IP-001
IP-001 is a proprietary glycan polymer that acts both as an antigen depot and a potent immune stimulant capable of inducing immunological responses against cancer. It is designed to (1) prolong the availability of the target antigens (whether it is sourced through formulation or tumoricidal therapies), (2) facilitate the recruitment and activation of innate immune cells such as antigen-presenting cells (APCs), (3) increase the uptake of the tumor antigens into the APCs, and (4) lead to a potent downstream adaptive immune response against the antigenic targets. This ignited systemic, adaptive immune response then seeks out and eliminates its target throughout the body.
About Immunophotonics
Immunophotonics, Inc. is a privately owned clinical-stage biotech company pioneering the field of Interventional Immuno-Oncology™. IP-001, the first asset from the company’s intellectual property platform, has the potential to overcome the local defenses of the tumor microenvironment to enable a tumor-specific anticancer immune response in multiple solid tumor indications. The company is in early Phase 2 development and is based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Its European operations are based in Bern, Switzerland.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those made or implied herein. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Immunophotonics, Inc. undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
