CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ: AVEO) today announced that it has initiated enrollment in an open-label, multi-center Phase 1b/2 clinical trial evaluating FOTIVDA® (tivozanib), the Company’s once-daily, potent and selective vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (VEGFR-TKI), in combination with IMFINZI® (durvalumab), AstraZeneca’s human monoclonal antibody directed against programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have not received prior systemic therapy.
The study is expected to enroll approximately 50 patients. The Phase 1b portion will evaluate the safety, tolerability, dose limiting toxicity, maximum tolerated dose and preliminary anti-tumor activity starting with 1.0mg of tivozanib for 21 days followed by 7 days rest together with 1500mg of durvalumab every 28 days. Assuming satisfactory completion of the Phase 1b portion of the study, a Phase 2 expansion cohort will enroll at the dose schedule designated in Phase 1b. The primary outcome measure is incidence of treatment emergent adverse events. Secondary outcome measures include objective response rate per RECIST 1.1, progression free survival, duration of response, and overall survival. The trial is being conducted as part of a clinical collaboration between AVEO and AstraZeneca. AVEO is serving as the study sponsor, with study costs shared equally by both parties and clinical drug supplied by each respective company.
“HCC is the fastest rising cause of cancer-related death in the U.S., driven by prevalent diseases that include hepatitis B and C, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and obesity. With five-year survival at approximately 26%, there remains a desperate need for new therapeutic options,” said Michael Bailey, president and chief executive officer of AVEO. “VEGF TKIs and immunotherapy represent current standard of care monotherapies for advanced HCC, and we believe that the combination of tivozanib and durvalumab, both of which have demonstrated single agent activity in HCC, holds great promise as a potential new treatment option for this patient population. Tivozanib’s unique tolerability profile has the potential to make it an attractive VEGF TKI to combine with immunotherapy; in collaboration with AstraZeneca, we look forward to elucidating the potential of the tivozanib-durvalumab combination in patients with previously untreated advanced liver cancer.”
About Tivozanib
Tivozanib (FOTIVDA®) is an oral, once-daily, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) approved for the treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the European Union plus Norway, New Zealand and Iceland. It is a potent and selective inhibitor of all three VEGF receptors.1,2 Tivozanib has been shown to significantly reduce regulatory T-cell production in preclinical models3 and has demonstrated synergy in combination with nivolumab (anti PD-1) in a Phase 2 study in RCC4. Tivozanib has been investigated in several tumor types, including renal cell, hepatocellular, colorectal, ovarian and breast cancers.
About Durvalumab
Durvalumab (IMFINZI®) is a human monoclonal antibody that binds to PD-L1 and blocks the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 and CD80, countering the tumor's immune-evading tactics and releasing the inhibition of immune responses.
Imfinzi is also approved for previously-treated patients with advanced bladder cancer in 10 countries, including the US.
As part of a broad development programme, Imfinzi is also being tested as a monotherapy and in combination with tremelimumab, an anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibody and potential new medicine, as a treatment for patients with NSCLC, small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, head and neck cancer, liver cancer, cervical cancer, biliary tract cancer and other solid tumours.
About AVEO
AVEO Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company seeking to advance targeted medicines for oncology and other unmet medical needs. The Company’s lead candidate is tivozanib, a potent, selective, long half-life inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor 1, 2 and 3 receptors, which AVEO is working to develop and commercialize in North America as a treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other cancers. Tivozanib (FOTIVDA®) is approved by the European Commission for the treatment of adult patients with advanced RCC in the European Union plus Norway, New Zealand, and Iceland. AVEO is leveraging or seeks to leverage partnerships to develop and commercialize its pipeline of products and product candidates, including tivozanib in oncology and other indications in various geographies, and ficlatuzumab (HGF MAb) in head and neck cancer, pancreatic cancer and acute myeloid leukemia. AVEO’s earlier-stage pipeline includes AV-203 (anti-ErbB3 MAb), AV-380 (GDF15 MAb) and AV-353 (Notch 3 MAb) for various oncology indications.
For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.aveooncology.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements of AVEO within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “seek,” “look forward,” “advance,” “goal,” “strategy,” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements about: the potential for tivozanib as a treatment option for patients with advanced RCC; the advancement of AVEO’s pipeline; the potential efficacy, safety, and tolerability of tivozanib, as a single agent and in combination with other therapies in several indications, such as RCC and HCC, including without limitation AVEO’s expectations regarding the potential benefit of tivozanib and durvalumab as combination therapy to treat HCC; AVEO’s plans and strategies for commercialization of tivozanib in the United States and Europe; and AVEO’s strategy, prospects, plans and objectives for its product candidates and for the Company generally. AVEO has based its expectations and estimates on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these expectations and estimates. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that AVEO makes due to a number of important factors, including risks relating to: AVEO’s ability, and the ability of its licensees, to demonstrate to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory agencies such as the FDA the safety, efficacy and clinically meaningful benefit of AVEO’s product candidates, including, in particular, tivozanib; AVEO’s ability to successfully file an NDA for tivozanib; and AVEO’s ability to enter into and maintain its third party collaboration and license agreements, and its ability, and the ability of its strategic partners, to achieve development and commercialization objectives under these arrangements. AVEO faces other risks relating to its business as well, including risks relating to the timing and costs of seeking and obtaining regulatory approval; AVEO’s and its collaborators’ ability to successfully enroll and complete clinical trials; AVEO’s ability to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements applicable to its product candidates; AVEO’s ability to obtain and maintain adequate protection for intellectual property rights relating to its product candidates; AVEO’s ability to successfully implement its strategic plans; AVEO’s ability to raise the substantial additional funds required to achieve its goals, including those goals pertaining to the development and commercialization of tivozanib; unplanned capital requirements; adverse general economic and industry conditions; competitive factors; and those risks discussed in the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” included in AVEO’s quarterly and annual reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in other filings that AVEO makes with the SEC. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent AVEO’s views as of the date of this press release, and subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change. While AVEO may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing AVEO's views as of any date other than the date of this press release. Any reference to AVEO’s website address in this press release is intended to be an inactive textual reference only and not an active hyperlink.
References |
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| 1. | Fotivda (Tivozanib) SmPC August 2017. |
| 2. | Motzer RJ, Nosov D, Eisen T, et al. J Clin Oncol 2013; 31(30): 3791-9. |
| 3. | Pawlowski N et al. AACR 2013. Poster 3971. |
| 4. | Barthelemy et al. ESMO 2018. Poster 878P. |
