FRANKFURT (Reuters) -A next-generation cancer immunotherapy by BioNTech and partner Bristol Myers Squibb led to encouraging tumour shrinkage in a mid-stage trial on small cell lung cancer that has started spreading, the German biotech firm said on Monday.
A Phase II trial showed that 76.3% of the 38 participants on the drug BNT327, also know as pumitamig, who qualified for an interim analysis saw their tumours shrink, BioNTech said in a statement.
The drug candidate, which was used in combination with chemotherapy, demonstrated a manageable safety profile with no new safety concerns and a low rate of people dropping out due to side effects, it added.
The drug is already being tested in a Phase III lung cancer trial.
Bristol Myers in June agreed to pay up to $11.1 billion to collaborate with BioNTech on the experimental drug, betting on a next-generation cancer immunotherapy that could take on rival Merck & Co’s best-selling drug Keytruda.
Several rival companies are pursuing an approach similar to pumitamig, which is designed to activate the immune system – like the established drug class including Keytruda – but also to cut a tumour off from its blood supply.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Editing by Miranda Murray)
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