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Aduro Biotech Announces Clinical Collaboration with Merck to Evaluate the Combination of Aduro's CRS-207 with Merck's KEYTRUDA® (Pembrolizumab) for the Treatment of MesotheliomaBERKELEY, Calif., May 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aduro Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADRO), a biopharmaceutical company with three distinct immunotherapy technologies, announced today the expansion of its clinical collaboration with Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) to include an additional Phase 2 clinical trial. The companies will investigate the combination of CRS-207, Aduro’s LADD (live, attenuated double-deleted) based immunotherapy, with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) whose disease progressed following prior treatment. Earlier this year, Aduro announced a Phase 2 clinical collaboration with Merck, through a subsidiary, to evaluate the combination of CRS-207 with pembrolizumab for the treatment of gastric cancer. “Data from our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of CRS-207 with standard chemotherapy as frontline treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma have been very encouraging, including disease control in 94 percent of patients treated with the CRS-207/chemotherapy combination,” said Natalie Sacks, M.D., chief medical officer at Aduro. “Based on these clinical data, as well as data from preclinical studies that demonstrate synergistic activity of CRS-207 and anti-PD-1 therapy, we look forward to initiating a Phase 2 trial to evaluate the CRS-207/pembrolizumab combination in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma who have failed prior treatment.” The multicenter, single-arm, open-label Phase 2 study is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CRS-207 with pembrolizumab in adults with previously treated MPM. The trial is expected to involve approximately 35 patients who have failed one to two prior treatments. About Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma About LADD and CRS-207 About Aduro Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions or current expectations concerning, among other things, the combination of CRS-207 with pembrolizumab for the potential treatment of mesothelioma and gastric cancer, the potential for our technology platforms, plans, the timing of our planned clinical trials and the potential for eventual regulatory approval of our product candidates. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “will,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “project,” “expect,” “targeted” or the negative or plural of these words or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, our history of net operating losses and uncertainty regarding our ability to achieve profitability, our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates, our ability to use and expand our technology platforms to build a pipeline of product candidates, our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates, our ability to operate in a competitive industry and compete successfully against competitors that have greater resources than we do, our reliance on third parties, and our ability to obtain and adequately protect intellectual property rights for our product candidates. We discuss many of these risks in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in our quarterly report on Form 10-QK for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements that we make in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. KEYTRUDA® is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. Kenilworth, NJ, USA. Contact: Sylvia Wheeler SVP, Corporate Affairs 510 809 9264 Media Contact: Susan Lehner 510 809 2137 [email protected] |