Nanobiotix has shared positive new data from an early-stage study evaluating a drug designed to enhance the efficacy of radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Results from the phase 1 study of NBTXR3, which is being conducted as part of an ongoing collaboration between Nanobiotix and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, were presented at this year's American Association for Cancer Research Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with a poor prognosis and remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide.

For more than 90% of patients with locally advanced disease who are not eligible for surgery, there are few treatment options with curative intent, and the five-year overall survival rate for patients with unresectable PDAC remains less than 5%.

Radiotherapy is one of the most common treatment modalities for cancer, with approximately 50% of patients undergoing it at some point during their treatment.

NBTXR3, which is injected directly into a patient's tumour before their first dose of radiotherapy, is designed to amplify the effect of the radiation within the tumour while the dose passing through healthy tissues remains unchanged.

The phase 1 study of the candidate included a dose-finding part, with one patient at dose level one and nine at dose level two. The trial also included an expansion part at the recommended phase 2 dose with 12 additional patients.

Out of 13 patients who were evaluable for efficacy at the data cutoff, 11 had stable disease, one had progressive disease in the injected lesion, and one had a pathological complete response after surgery. Taken together, these results represent a more than 92% local disease control rate and a median overall survival of 21 months.

Nanobiotix noted that the dose-finding part of the study is now complete, while the expansion remains ongoing.

The candidate is currently being evaluated across other solid tumour indications as a single agent or in combination with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors, including in a late-stage study in locally advanced head and neck cancer.

The positive readout comes just a few months after Nanobiotix gave Janssen Pharmaceuticals – now Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine – a worldwide licence for the development and commercialisation of NBTXR3, except in territories previously licenced to LianBio.

https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/nanobiotix_shares_positive_results_for_radiotherapy_enhancer_in_advanced_pancreatic_cancer_1501591