New advances in pancreatic cancer treatment

Hope is rising in the battle against pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of cancer worldwide.  

A groundbreaking study reported that a blood test can now detect early-stage pancreatic cancer with 97 percent accuracy. Johns Hopkins Medicine has noted that early detection is crucial, as up to 10 percent of patients diagnosed early become disease-free after treatment.  

The American Cancer Society predicts that this year, 66,440 Americans—34,530 men and 31,910 women—will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, with an estimated 51,750 succumbing to the disease. 

In the backdrop, biotech firms like Oncolytics Biotech Inc., Candel Therapeutics, Inc., ABVC BioPharma, Inc., CytomX Therapeutics, Inc., and Amgen Inc. are progressing with new treatments. Oncolytics Biotech Inc. is developing pelareorep, an intravenously delivered immunotherapeutic agent. 

Recently, the FDA granted pelareorep Fast Track Designation for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, recognizing its potential following promising clinical results.  

“We are thrilled to collaborate with GCAR and are honored that pelareorep has been selected as the first therapeutic for evaluation in GCAR's planned adaptive trial in pancreatic cancer patients,” said Matt Coffey, president, and CEO of Oncolytics.  

He emphasized that this collaboration represents a strategic and efficient pathway for developing pelareorep to meet the urgent needs of pancreatic cancer patients. 

Additionally, Oncolytics recently announced a new cohort in its ongoing GOBLET study to evaluate pelareorep in combination with modified FOLFIRINOX +/- Tecentriq (from Roche) in pancreatic cancer, after receiving regulatory and ethics approvals in Germany. 

This effort is supported by a US$5m Therapeutic Accelerator Award from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), aimed at rapidly advancing new treatments for this cancer. 

Candel Therapeutics has also made significant strides with its leading multimodal biological candidate, CAN-2409, for which the FDA recently granted Orphan Drug Designation.  

“We recently reported data from the phase 2 randomized clinical trial of CAN-2409 in borderline resectable pancreatic cancer, showing that CAN-2409, when added to standard of care, more than doubled the median overall survival obtained with standard of care alone,” stated Paul Peter Tak, president, and CEO of Candel.  

He highlighted the significance of receiving both Orphan Drug and Fast Track Designation for this program. 

ABVC BioPharma announced a definitive agreement with private company OncoX BioPharma to collaborate on combination therapy to treat pancreatic cancer.  

“We are excited to announce this collaboration with OncoX, which represents a significant step forward in our commitment to developing transformative treatments for pancreatic cancer,” said Uttam Patil, CEO of ABVC.  

The partnership will draw on ABVC's portfolio of combination therapies, which have shown promise in preclinical and early clinical studies. 

CytomX Therapeutics, together with its global development partner Amgen Inc., recently revealed positive initial data from the CX-904 Phase 1a dose escalation clinical study.  

CX-904 is a bispecific PROBODY candidate designed to engage T-cells by targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on cancer cells and the CD3 receptor on T cells.  

“We are delighted to share these initial results today for CX-904, a highly innovative masked T-cell engager that embodies our vision at CytomX of transforming lives with safer, more effective therapies,” said Sean McCarthy, CEO, and chair of CytomX.  

The initial data showed a favorable safety profile and encouraging signs of efficacy, including 33 percent of patients with a confirmed partial response and 100 percent achieving disease control.