AstraZeneca and Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. entered into a cancer immunotherapy clinical trial collaboration.
The collaboration will evaluate Peregrine’s investigational phosphatidylserine-signaling pathway inhibitor, bavituximab, in combination with AstraZeneca’s investigational anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, durvalumab. The planned phase I/Ib trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of bavituximab in combination with durvalumab in multiple solid tumors. Peregrine and AstraZeneca will collaborate on a non-exclusive basis.
The phase I part of the trial is expected to establish a recommended dose regimen for the combination and the phase Ib part of the trial will assess the safety and efficacy of the investigational combination. Under the terms of the agreement, the initial trial will be conducted by Peregrine.
Bavituximab targets and modulates the activity of phosphatidylserine, an immune-suppressive molecule expressed broadly on the surface of cells in the tumor microenvironment. Durvalumab is a monoclonal antibody directed against programmed cell death ligand 1. Preclinical data have demonstrated that combining the enhanced T-cell mediated anti-tumor activity of bavituximab with checkpoint inhibitors, like PD-L1 antibodies, prolong the ability of tumor-specific T-cells to continue attacking the tumor.
