IMV Inc. announced a first patient dosed in the VITALIZE Phase 2B clinical trial. VITALIZE will further evaluate the clinical benefit of IMV's lead compound, maveropepimut-S (MVP-S), in combination with Merck's (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (r/r DLBCL). The contribution of low dose cyclophosphamide (CPA) as an immune modulator will also be evaluated in this trial.

In December 2020, results of the SPiReL study were presented at the ASH annual meeting. In his presentation, Dr. Neil Berinstein, Principal Investigator of the SPiReL study and hematologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, describes that MVP-S in combination with KEYTRUDA induced durable clinical benefit and grade 1 or 2 adverse events. PD-L1+ patients demonstrated an objective response rate (ORR) of 75%.