Massachusetts' Agenus Quietly Discloses Failure of Cancer Vaccine Trial

Massachusetts' Agenus Quietly Discloses Failure of Cancer Vaccine Trial February 22, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

Lexington, Mass.-based Agenus quietly filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it was halting its clinical trial of its cancer vaccine Prophage.

On February 17, 2017, the company was notified by the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a group made up of the National Cancer Institute, that an interim analysis of its Phase II trial of Prophage G-200 (Heat Shock Protein Peptide Complex-96 or HSPPC-96) in combination with bevacizumab in surgically resectable recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, indicated failure. In order words, it wasn’t likely to lead to a better survival than bevacizumab by itself. They recommended the trial close.

The trial started in 2013 and planned to recruit 165 patients. John Carroll, writing for Endpoints News, says, “Like a long lineup of cancer vaccines in recent years, Agenus’ attempt to kickstart an immune system attack appeared safe but ineffective, too weak to make a significant difference. The biotech also has a slate of checkpoints in the clinic, looking to follow up on a new approach to removing cancer cells’ natural defenses so that they can be eliminated by the immune system. And company execs had expressed a keen interesting in combining Prophage with a checkpoint for a one-two cancer punch.”

On February 14, Agenus and Incyte Corporation amended a license, development and commercialization deal the two companies inked in 2015. It converted the GITR and OX40 antibody programs from being co-funded and profit-sharing deals to royalty-based programs. Incyte will now be responsible for funding and conducting worldwide development and commercialization. If any products are developed and marketed, Agenus will receive 15 percent royalties on global net sales. Two other antibody programs, TIM-3 and LAG-3, will stay royalty-based with tiers of 6 to 12 percent, and Incyte holding exclusive global clinical development and commercial responsibilities.

As part of the deal, Agenus received accelerated milestone payments of $20 million from Incyte for the INCAGN1876 (anti-GITR agonist) and INCAGN1949 (anti-OX40 agonist) programs. Across all collaboration programs, Agenus is eligible for up to $510 million in future milestone payments.

There was also a separate stock deal. Incyte will acquire 10 million shares of Agenus common stock at $6 per share.

“The antibody discovery collaboration between Incyte and Agenus has progressed well and has already resulted in two programs in clinical trials,” said Herve Hoppenot, chief executive officer of Incyte, in a statement. “We look forward to further developing our GITR and OX40 antibody programs, and exploring immunotherapy combinations with these compounds and other agents in the near future.”

“We believe the amended agreement will help streamline the development of our collaboration portfolio, provide the opportunity to prioritize our other internal programs towards rapids commercialization and help foster the development of our portfolio of novel I-O programs,” said Garo Armen, chairman and chief executive officer of Agenus, in a statement. “The revised agreement will also strengthen Agenus’ balance sheet and reduce cash burn.”

Agenus is currently trading for $4.54.

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