BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

Quick Takes: Second win for Imfinzi-tremelimumab in 1L HCC

Plus first day of trading for MiNK, Abbisko and updates Rectify, Roche, Avadel

October 16, 2021 1:23 AM UTC

Fifteen years after tremelimumab first entered Phase III testing, AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NASDAQ:AZN) has seen the anti-CTLA-4 notch its second positive Phase III combination readout in the past six months. The U.K. pharma said top-line results from the Phase III HIMALAYA trial showed a single priming dose of tremelimumab followed by PD-L1 inhibitor Imfinzi durvalumab met the primary endpoint of overall survival (OS) vs. Nexavar sorafenib as a first-line treatment for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Imfinzi monotherapy also met the OS endpoint of non-inferiority vs. Nexavar. Data will be presented at future medical meeting. Tremelimumab, which AZ licensed from Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), first entered Phase III testing as monotherapy to treat melanoma in 2006 and has failed in numerous Phase III settings before the combo with Imfinzi and chemotherapy showed an OS benefit this year in the Phase III POSEIDON trial as a first-line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Rectify Pharmaceuticals Inc. launched Thursday with $100 million to develop therapies that restore ABC transporter function, starting with liver indications. Rectify CSO Jonathan Moore founded the company with Atlas Venture in 2020. Moore was a founding scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTX), where he developed precision therapies targeting CFTR, a member of the ABC transporter family, to treat cystic fibrosis. The series A financing was co-led by Atlas Venture, Omega Funds, Forbion and Longwood Fund...