Innate Pharma SA (the "Company" - Euronext Paris: FR0010331421 – IPH) today announces the start of a Phase I combination trial of the two checkpoint inhibitors monalizumab (anti-NKG2A antibody) and durvalumab (anti-PD-L1 antibody).
This trial is a multicenter, open-label, dose-escalation and cohort-expansion study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and antitumor activity of the combination in patients with selected advanced solid tumors. It will include up to 208 patients, and will be performed in the United States and in Europe.
Pierre Dodion, Chief Medical Officer of Innate Pharma, said: "There is a strong rationale for combining immune checkpoints inhibitors. Combinations with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors are of particular interest given the antitumor activity already reported for these agents and we are therefore excited to simultaneously target PD-L1 and NKG2A checkpoints in this trial". He added: "All the trials of the initial monalizumab development plan are now open and we expect to see first data in 2017. Concurrently, we are working on expanding the program to further explore the potential of monalizumab".
The rationale of the combination of durvalumab and monalizumab will be presented at a scientific meeting during 2016.
This trial is part of a global co-development and commercialization agreement with AstraZeneca for monalizumab signed in April 2015. Five Phase I/II trials are now ongoing, testing monalizumab in a variety of solid and hematologic tumors, as a single-agent and in various combinations, exploring the clinical impact of monalizumab's ability to stimulate direct tumor killing by cytotoxic NK and T cells, and different mechanisms of synergy with other immunomodulators, including T cell activators and ADCC-inducing antibodies.