Marker Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the Company has been awarded a $9.5 million grant from the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to support the clinical investigation of MT-601 in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The CPRIT grant is intended to support the Company?s Phase 1 PANACEA study evaluating the safety and tolerability of MT-601, a multi-tumor associated antigen (multiTAA) -specific T cell product, in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The Company?s lead asset, MT-601, is currently being studied in patients with CD19-CAR relapsed lymphoma as the primary indication.
Marker previously reported that one of the Principal Investigators presented preliminary safety and efficacy with sustained objective responses observed in three study participants treated at City of Hope National Medical Center. MT-601 recognizes multiple targets within six tumor-specific antigens that are highly expressed among different cancer indications. Due to the broad target recognition profile of MT-601, the Company plans to investigate its potential application beyond lymphoma in patients with solid tumors.
The use of MT-601 in solid tumors is supported by preliminary efficacy data of a previous study conducted at Baylor College of Medicine investigating multiTAA-specific T cells in patients with pancreatic cancer who received treatment in conjunction with frontline chemotherapy (Phase 1 Trial in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (TACTOPS), June 1, 2020;. In this study, the multiTAA-specific T cell product targeted five of the six tumor-antigens used in MT-601. In the 13 patients treated, administration of multiTAA-specific T cells was associated with a favorable safety profile and durable cancer control, including 1 complete response, 3 partial responses and 6 patients with stable disease.
Notably, measurable tumor responses were observed in 4 patients, and 9 patients exceeded the median overall survival of historical controls of patients receiving chemotherapy alone.
