NEW YORK – Immunocore on Tuesday said it began testing its engineered T-cell engager IMC-R117C in patients with PIWIL1-positive colorectal and other cancers in a Phase I/II trial.
Immunocore developed IMC-R117C on its ImmTAC platform, which pairs a T-cell receptor designed to recognize cancer antigens with an immune-activating effector domain that recruits T cells to destroy cancer cells. IMC-R117C is designed to target PIWIL1, a protein involved in stem cell proliferation, growth, and embryogenesis. PIWIL1 is overexpressed in many cancers and is associated with poor prognosis.
In the Phase I/II trial, the Oxfordshire, UK-based company will evaluate the safety and clinical activity of IMC-R117C as a monotherapy and in combination with other therapies in HLA-A*02:01-positive patients with advanced, PIWIL1-positive cancers. The firm estimates that up to 20,000 colorectal cancer patients globally are positive for PIWIL1 and HLA-A*02:01.
"PIWIL1 is expressed across all major subsets of colorectal cancer, including microsatellite-stable [colorectal cancer], which has historically been insensitive to immunotherapy," Mohammed Dar, senior VP of clinical development and chief medical officer at Immunocore, said in a statement.
Immunocore markets Kimmtrak (tebentafusp) as a treatment for patients with HLA-A*02:01-positive unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma and is advancing another ImmTAC candidate, brenetafusp (IMC-F106C), with Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdivo (nivolumab) as a treatment for patients with HLA-A*02:01-positive cutaneous melanoma.