Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has entered a strategic immuno-oncology collaboration with Netherlands-based ISA Pharmaceuticals to advance ISA101 therapy in combination with cemiplimab (REGN2810).
Based on the oncogenic antigens delivery in the form of synthetic long peptides, ISA101 targets cancer induced by human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16).
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Cemiplimab is a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibody formulated with Regeneron’s VelocImmune technology that is designed to generate optimised fully human antibodies.
The drug is being developed by Regeneron under a global collaboration agreement with Sanofi.
Regeneron Clinical Sciences vice-president Israel Lowy said: “Regeneron continues to expand and advance our immuno-oncology programme by studying multiple combination therapies in order to fully explore the scientific possibilities in this relatively new field.
“Early clinical results with ISA101 in HPV16-positive indications have been promising, and we’re eager to investigate the impact of adding cemiplimab with the goal of further enabling the body’s immune system to attack the cancer.”
Regeneron and ISA are set to jointly sponsor and perform clinical trials for the combination of ISA101 and cemiplimab to treat patients with cervical, and head and neck cancers.
The firms will share clinical trial costs and exchange product supply, while Regeneron has agreed to offer an upfront payment for an option to ISA101’s exclusive global licence.
ISA Pharmaceuticals CEO Ronald Loggers said: “This collaboration with Regeneron is a strong validation of our proprietary synthetic long peptides (SLP) platform and know-how.”
