Candel Therapeutics, Inc. announced topline overall survival data from its phase 2 clinical trial of CAN-2409, a multimodal biological immunotherapy candidate, plus valacyclovir (prodrug), together with standard of care (SoC) immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy in patients with Stage III/IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) inadequately responding to ICI (anti-PD-(L)1) therapy. The data will be presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, to be held in Chicago, May 31 to June 4, 2024, by Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH, FASCO, Leslye M. Heisler Associate Professor for Lung Cancer Excellence at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Co-Principal Investigator of the clinical trial. Highlights of the presentation include: 1) median overall survival (mOS) of 20.6 months achieved in patients with progressive disease despite ICI treatment after two administrations of CAN-2409 plus prodrug; for context, in a 2022 publication of a clinical trial in a similar patient population, mOS in the control arm that received SoC docetaxel-based chemotherapy was 11.6 months; improved survival was observed across both PD-(L)1 positive and PD-(L)1 negative tumors; 2) beneficial effect on both injected and uninjected tumors in more than 70% of the patients with metastatic disease and at least one uninjected tumor; and 3) a significant increase in circulating CD8+ cytotoxic and CD4+ effector and central memory T cells and increased soluble granzyme B levels in peripheral blood after the second (?booster?) injection of CAN-2409, associated with subsequent prolonged survival (in each case, as of an April 1 data cut-off).

Together, these data continue to support the emerging differentiated profile of CAN-2409 in this difficult-to-treat condition. Previously, the Company received FDA Fast Track Designation for CAN-2409 in NSCLC and pancreatic cancer as well as orphan drug designation in pancreatic cancer.