Sellas inventory rises as GPS/Keytruda reveals survival profit in ovarian most cancers trial

Sellas Life Sciences (NASDAQ:SLS) inventory rose ~6% on Thursday after the corporate reported information from the ultimate evaluation of a part 1/2 trial of its drug galinpepimut-S (GPS) together with Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) Keytruda (pembrolizumab) to deal with sufferers with WT1(+) relapsed or refractory platinum-resistant superior metastatic ovarian most cancers.

Of the 17 sufferers, 16 acquired not less than three doses of GPS and had follow-up cross-sectional imaging (CT/MRI) to find out tumor standing.

The corporate stated median Total Survival (OS) was 18.4 months for GPS/Keytruda combo, in comparison with 13.8 months in a checkpoint inhibitor single agent research in an identical affected person inhabitants handled with checkpoint inhibitor alone.

Median Development-Free Survival ((PFS – size of time throughout/after therapy a affected person lives with the illness with out it getting worse) for GPS/Keytruda combo was 12 weeks in comparison with eight weeks in a checkpoint inhibitor single agent research in an identical affected person inhabitants handled with checkpoint inhibitor alone, the corporate added.

Sellas famous that the general response price (ORR) of the trial is 6.3% with a illness management price (DCR), which is the sum of general response price and price of secure illness, of fifty.1% at a median follow-up of 14.4 months.

In a checkpoint inhibitor single agent trial in an identical inhabitants handled with a checkpoint inhibitor alone, the DCR was 37.2%, in step with a DCR price enhance of ~45% within the GPS/Keytruda combo over that seen for checkpoint inhibitors alone, in line with the corporate.

Sellas stated that survival and illness management advantages have been seen in sufferers harboring tumors with any degree of detectable PD-L1 expression.

The protection profile of GPS/Keytruda mixture was just like Keytruda alone, with the one addition of low-grade, quickly resolving native reactions on the GPS injection web site, which was in step with different GPS research.

“GPS has been primarily studied as upkeep remedy to offer an general survival profit after sufferers attain a state of minimal residual illness or full remission. In distinction, on this very tough to deal with affected person inhabitants with relapsed or refractory measurable superior platinum-resistant ovarian most cancers, who underwent intensive chemotherapy with no obvious enduring scientific profit, the info means that the mix of GPS plus pembrolizumab could also be efficient in stabilizing energetic illness,” stated Sellas President and CEO Angelos Stergiou.