NEW YORK – SQZ Biotechnologies said on Tuesday that Roche will not exercise an option to advance an autologous cell therapy candidate in human papillomavirus 16-positive solid tumors.
In 2015, Roche and SQZ partnered to develop and commercialize oncology therapies comprising antigen presenting cells (APCs) manufactured using SQZ's Cell Squeeze platform, and the companies expanded the deal in 2018. That deal included a program focused on treating HPV 16-positive cancers.
Now that Roche has passed on an option in the deal to advance an autologous cell therapy for HPV 16-positive tumors, SQZ will regain full clinical development and future commercialization rights for this program. SQZ said it will explore strategic alternatives to advance its oncology programs including its HPV 16-positive tumor program as part of an effort to "partner all its clinical and preclinical assets across all disease areas and indications," according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The companies had collaborated on a Phase I trial of an SQZ-APC-HPV candidate, also called SQZ-PBMC-HPV, in HLA-A*02-positive patients with recurrent, locally advanced, or metastatic HPV 16-positive solid tumors, including anal, rectal, cervical, head and neck, penile, vulvar, and vaginal cancers. The trial included a monotherapy dose-escalation phase, a second part where SQZ-APC-HPV was studied in combination with Genentech's Tecentriq (atezolizumab) and other checkpoint inhibitors, and a third monotherapy dose-expansion portion.
SQZ said in statement that the APC candidate was well tolerated in this trial and "provided a significant survival benefit to a subpopulation of patients with enhanced tumor T-cell infiltration."
SQZ, based in Watertown, Massachusetts, is also developing an enhanced APC candidate and an activating antigen carrier (AAC) candidate in HPV 16-positive solid tumors. Both therapies use SQZ's Cell Squeeze technology to engineer patients' cells so they will activate CD8 T cells to kill tumor cells.