Immutep’s Efti in Combination with Pembrolizumab Achieves Excellent Initial Overall Survival Benefit in 1st Line Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immutep Limited (ASX: IMM; NASDAQ: IMMP) ("Immutep” or “the Company”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel LAG-3 immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune disease, today announces that efti, a soluble LAG-3 protein and first-in-class MHC Class II agonist, in combination with MSD’s (Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA) anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) achieved robust initial Overall Survival (OS) in 1st line non-small cell lung cancer (1L NSCLC) patients in the Phase II TACTI-002 trial.
- This immuno-oncology (IO) investigational combination, without the use of chemotherapy, led to excellent initial survival results in the overall intent-to-treat (ITT) 1L NSCLC patient population (N=114), regardless of PD-L1 expression status.
- We now are showing excellent initial overall survival, which is the gold standard benchmark within oncology, across the entire intent-to-treat population of 1st line NSCLC patients in our Phase II trial.
- For non-small cell lung cancer patients with >1% PD-L1 expression, a key focus for future development and for which efti in combination with pembrolizumab has Fast Track status, the survival benefit is impressive.
- Fundamentally, efti is leading to a significant systemic expansion of memory cytotoxic T cells that anti-PD-(L)1 therapies can act upon.