Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:APVO) has offered an update on the ongoing APVO436 Phase clinical trials in which the company reported the first complete remission in a patient.
A patient shows remission in trial
APVO436 is the company’s novel anti-CD123 x anti-CD3 targeted experimental biospecific antibody therapy under evaluation to treat myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The biotech company that develops immune-oncology therapies evaluates the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of APVO436 in a phase 1/1b open-label dose-escalation trial.
The company has announced that based on initial data, a patient in cohort 6 of the study had reported complete remission. According to the data, there was a decrease in patient bone marrow blasts from 29% at the screen to around 6% fooling the first treatment cycle. Interestingly, after the second treatment cycle, there was a drop to 0%, while the patient’s platelet count and absolute neutrophil count (ANC) achieved complete remission criteria.
Marvin White, the CEO and President of Aptevo Therapeutics, said that they are encouraged by the complete remission to observe in the patient in Cohort 6, which is a significant outcome. He stated that the company is now in a critical phase of the study with pharmacokinetic modeling suggesting that dosing in cohort 5-8 is within the therapeutic range. This is likely to results in possible clinical activity for APVO436. White added that they are looking forward to advancing the dose-escalation as well as monitoring possible clinical responses as they evaluate upcoming dose cohorts.
APVO436 based on ADAPTIR™ platform
Aptevo built APVO436 based on its next-generation ADAPTIR™ protein therapeutic platform. The focus was to generate proprietary, targeted specific antibody-based immunotherapies for cancer with the platform offering significant advantages over common bispecific formats. APVO436 is derived in part from the modular and flexible nature of the ADAPTIR™ structure.
The company is optimistic that the ADAPTIR™ bispecific platform has the potential of offering a convenient and cost-effective solution relative to other immunotherapies such as CAR-T. Although CAR-T therapies are effective in generating durable treatment responses, they are nonetheless expensive.
