Bavarian Nordic Announces Initiation of Phase 2 Trial of BN-Brachyury

Bavarian Nordic (OMX:BAVA,OTC:BVNRY) today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2 study evaluating its novel, targeted cancer immunotherapy, BN-Brachyury, and radiation in patients with advanced chordoma.

As quoted in the press release:

Chordoma is a rare cancer that occurs in the bones of the skull base and spine, resulting in approximately 1,000 new cases being diagnosed in the United States and Europe annually. The brachyury protein has been shown to be universally overexpressed in chordoma tumors, while not being found in most normal tissue. The presence of brachyury in epithelial solid tumors has been highly correlated with metastatic disease, multi-drug resistance and decreased survival rates. BN-Brachyury’s prime-boost vaccination regimen has been optimized to include the gene for brachyury, as well as costimulatory molecules (TRICOM) known to increase immune activation. Prior data suggests that BN-Brachyury can safely target brachyury and induce brachyury-specific T-cell immune responses.

“While upfront surgical resection or definitive radiation can result in cure for some patients, we know that the majority of patients with this disease are not cured. Those who are not cured will almost all go on to have advanced disease, for which there are no therapeutic options known to result in defined clinical benefit,” said Chris Heery, M.D., the Chief Medical Officer of Bavarian Nordic and member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Chordoma Foundation. “The almost universal expression of brachyury in chordoma makes it a prime candidate for our targeted immunotherapy. The initiation of the Phase 2 study serves as a significant step in the evaluation of BN-Brachyury as an effective treatment for patients with this rare disease.”

Click here to read the full press release.