New Australian site for Noxopharm immunotherapy trial joins prestigious US sites

Pharma News: Australian clinical-stage drug development company Noxopharm announced completion of enrolment of the first dose cohort of patients in its DARRT-2 Phase 2 clinical trial.

DARRT (Direct and Abscopal Response to Radiotherapy) is an experimental immunotherapy cancer treatment based on the combination of Veyonda and a well-tolerated low dose of external beam radiotherapy.

The aim of DARRT treatment is to trigger an immune response in a single tumour, resulting in tumours in the rest of the body resolving despite not receiving any radiation. This form of immune response is known as an abscopal response and is the subject of considerable clinical interest worldwide because of its potential to offer significant benefits over other forms of immunotherapies. Those potential benefits include a broader range of responding cancer types, fewer side-effects, greater access to treatment, fewer logistical challenges, and greater cost-effectiveness.

Noxopharm CMO, Dr Gisela Mautner, said “This Phase 2 study builds on our Phase 1 trial where we saw promising signals that it may be possible to achieve cancer reduction through the abscopal response. A combination of Veyonda and low-dose radiation therapy would be a very important new treatment option for cancer patients worldwide as many of the current immunotherapy treatments have considerable limitations.”

As previously announced DARRT-2 is being undertaken across multiple sites in North America, Europe, and Australia involving approximately 100 patients with metastatic cancers (prostate, breast, lung) who are eligible for low-dose radiotherapy.

The DARRT-2 trial marks the first time that Veyonda has been made available to patients in the United States, with patients enrolled at both the prestigious Beverly Hills Cancer Centre in Los Angeles and the renowned MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, one of the largest cancer treatment centres in the world and consistently rated one of the best cancer treatment centres in the U.S. The first Australian site at Macquarie Hospital in Sydney is also open for enrolment.

Interim safety updates will be provided over the course of 2022 and more sites in Australia, USA and Europe will come online progressively over the next few months.