Noxopharm and BMS immuno-oncology trial proceeds to patient recruitment

Pharma News: Australian clinical-stage drug development company Noxopharm announced that the IONIC-1 trial supported by Noxopharm and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) received final ethics approval to start recruiting patients.

The IONIC-1 trial is a Phase 1b trial in approximately 30 cancer patients, combining Veyonda with the BMS immune checkpoint inhibitor, Opdivo (nivolumab), for the treatment of a range of tumour types.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) such as nivolumab have had spectacular results in some patients with a small number of cancer types, but remain inactive in most forms of cancer. The IONIC-1 study will
explore whether adding Veyonda to ICI therapy will overcome tumor resistance to nivolumab, making more cancer types responsive to nivolumab.

The ICI market is a multi-billion-dollar market predicted by market analysts to generate sales of up to US$45 billion by 2025 through strong year-on-year growth. Increasing the number of cancer types that respond to ICI therapy would expand the market even more, leaving any company with the technology to help achieve that goal in a highly valuable position. The ICI market currently is dominated by two major global pharmaceutical companies, one of which is Bristol Myers Squibb.

Medical Oncologist Professor de Souza and Principal Investigator of this trial said “We’re now ready to begin recruiting patients into IONIC-1. The potential of this trial to bring effective checkpoint inhibitor treatment to a broader range of patients is an exciting prospect. If we’re able to enhance the effect of BMS’s nivolumab with Veyonda, this will bring some truly
life-changing treatment to cancer patients’ lives and will change the way that cancer is treated worldwide.”

The IONIC-1 trial will commence immediately. There will be two cohorts of patients, one cohort comprising patients who have not had previous Opdivo treatment because they have cancers considered unsuitable for ICI use, and the other cohort will be patients whose cancers have displayed resistance to Opdivo treatment.