Advaxis Posts Data Shown At Cancer Conference

Advaxis (NASDAQ:ADXS) published an update for filolisbac achieved durable response in a patient with persistent or recurrent metastatic carcinoma of the cervix.
As quoted in the press release:

Nine patients who had documented disease progression after they had received curative treatments of chemotherapy and/or radiation with or without bevacizumab were enrolled in this phase 1, open-label, dose-determining study. Axalimogene filolisbac was well-tolerated across two dose levels. The study also established a recommended phase 2 dose of 1×10¹⁰ CFU and demonstrated antitumor activity at that dose. Axalimogene filolisbac was safely administered at 5 and 10 times the dose levels previously studied, without any significant toxicity. One patient experienced an ongoing and durable partial response. This patient was recently featured in the Augusta Chronicle, as she is being treated at the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University.  Read the full Augusta Chronicle article here.

“The best overall tumor response in eight of the nine enrolled patients is encouraging in evaluating the potential of axalimogene filolisbac,” said Sharad Ghamande, principal investigator and Professor and Director of Gynecologic Oncology at the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University.  “We were pleased to see a sustained and durable partial response in one patient, which is very rare for this kind of tumor that is unresponsive to chemotherapy, and survival in these patients is often less than 10 months. In addition, we could safely administer the drug at 5 and 10 times the dose levels previously studied, without any significant toxicity.”

There was only one instance of dose-limiting toxicity, with that patient experiencing a grade 3 treatment related adverse event (TRAE) of hypotension at a dose of 5×10⁹ CFU.  Across all doses, eight of nine patients experienced a grade 1-2 TRAE, including chills, nausea and hypotension.

The poster on the phase 1 data, “High-dose treatment with ADXS11-001, a Listeriamonocytogenes-listeriolysin O (Lm-LLO) immunotherapy, in women with cervical cancer: a phase I, dose-escalation study” (no. 58) is available at www.advaxis.com.  The company is preparing to initiate a phase 3 trial in PRmCC later this year.

About Axalimogene Filolisbac

Axalimogene filolisbac is a targeted Listeria monocytogenes (Lm)-based immunotherapy that attacks HPV-associated cancers by altering a live strain of Lm bacteria to generate cancer-fighting T cells against cancer antigens while neutralizing the tumor’s natural protections that guard the tumor microenvironment from immunologic attack.  In a phase 2 trial evaluating axalimogene filolisbac for the treatment of persistent or recurrent metastatic (squamous or non-squamous cell) carcinoma of the cervix (PRmCC), the drug candidate showed a 12-month overall survival rate of 38 percent observed in 50 patients in the trial.  This is a 52 percent improvement over the 12-month overall survival rate that was expected in the trial’s patient population based on prognostic factors.

Axalimogene filolisbac has received Fast Track designation for adjuvant therapy for high-risk locally advanced cervical cancer (HRLACC) and a Special Protocol Assessment for the Phase 3 AIM2CERV trial in HRLACC patients.  The immunotherapy has also received orphan drug designation in three clinical indications.

Click here to read the full press release.