LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NETRIS Pharma, a clinical-stage private biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of drugs based on dependence receptor biology, today announced dosing of the first patient in the ImmunoNET trial. ImmunoNET is a multicenter, open-label, proof of concept phase II trial designed to assess the clinical and biological activity of NETRIS Pharma’s first drug candidate, NP137, as add-on therapy in patients with advanced/metastatic solid tumors treated by standard immunotherapies.
“The enrollment of the first patient in ImmunoNET is a new clinical milestone for NETRIS Pharma. Immune-checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized the treatment of cancer, yet the vast majority of patients do not respond or transiently respond to these immunotherapies. Based on a unique mode of action of NP137 and biomarker studies conducted in Phase 1, we believe we can enlarge the fraction of responding patients and potentially prevent resistance,” said Patrick Mehlen, CEO of NETRIS Pharma. “ImmunoNET has been specifically designed by clinicians to provide new solutions for patients suffering from resistance to immune-checkpoint inhibitors.”
The study will enroll up to 90 patients suffering from solid-tumor cancers, including Head and Neck, Melanoma, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Urothelial and other tumor types. These patients will be classified according to their responses to immunotherapy, in 3 arms: (1) patients under stable disease after 12 weeks under standard PD-1/PD-L1 therapy; (2) patients with radiological progression; and (3) patients with radiological progression following an initial objective response according to RECIST V1.1, with clinical benefit according to RECIST.
“Despite some remarkable results with the use of immunotherapy, which have become the new standard of care in various oncology indications, many patients are experiencing an absence of response or immune resistance,” said Jérome Fayette, clinical oncologist at Centre Léon Bérard and Principal Investigator of this Investigator Initiated Trial conducted in collaboration with several key clinical centers in France. “We look forward to measure the potential benefit of NP137 on patients partially or not responding from immunotherapy.”
“NETRIS Pharma is thankful to the EU Innovation Council and SME’s Executive Agency (EISMEA) to participate to the funding of this trial after having been selected as one of the most innovative project in Europe in December 2021 under the EIC accelerator Instrument program,” added Christophe Guichard, CFO of NETRIS Pharma.
About NETRIS Pharma
NETRIS Pharma, a clinical-stage company designs and develops anti-cancer therapeutic molecules, particularly monoclonal antibodies, to block the interaction between dependence receptors and their ligands. NETRIS Pharma, based in Lyon, is the world most advanced biopharmaceutical company targeting netrin-1. Further information can be found at: https://www.netrispharma.com.
About NP137
NP137 is a humanized monoclonal antibody of isotype IgG1 directed against netrin-1. Most types of tumors produce an abnormal amount of dependence receptors’ ligands, which prevents cells from apoptosis. Netrin-1 is overexpressed in a large percentage of human cancers. Expression of netrin-1 often correlates with disease severity and no therapy has ever been tested against this new pathway. Pre-clinical studies show NP137 to have an anti-cancer effect as a monotherapy as well as synergistic effects in combination with chemotherapy or immune checkpoint inhibitors. Further to the confirmation of the excellent safety profile in human, NETRIS Pharma is simultaneously actively recruiting up to 240 patients in a separate randomized Phase 2 GYNET trial, in uterine cancer indications, in combination with chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
About Centre Léon Bérard
Centre Leon Berard is among the top 3 Comprehensive Cancer Center in France and an integrated cancer research site (SIRIC), with a high level of excellence in basic, translational and clinical research in oncology. It is accredited by the Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OEIC) and hosts the Cancer Research Centre of Lyon (CRCL – U1052 – UMR5286), with more than 500 collaborators involved in all domains of cancer research.
Further information can be found at: https://www.centreleonberard.fr ; https://www.crcl.fr.
About EIC Accelerator
The EIC Accelerator supports individual Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in particular Startups and spinout companies to develop and scaleup game-changing innovations. ImmunoNET is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or NETRIS Pharma. Neither the European Union nor NETRIS Pharma can be held responsible for them.
