Clinical trial NCT04195373: A Safety Study of TMV-018 in Patients With Tumors of the Gastrointestinal Tract
Official title: A Phase I Open-label, Safety Study of Intra-tumoral Application of TMV-018 in Combination With 5-FC or Anti-PD-1 Therapy in Patients With Tumors of the Gastrointestinal Tract
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: WITHDRAWN
Phase: PHASE1
Conditions: Gastrointestinal Cancer
Keywords: Colorectal cancer
Esophageal cancer
Gastric cancer
TMV-018
anti-PD-1
5-FC
oncolytic virus
Lead sponsor: Themis Bioscience GmbH
Sponsor class: INDUSTRY
Collaborators: name: Assign Data Management and Biostatistics GmbH
name: Optimapharm
First posted: 2019-12-11
Enrollment: 0
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This study aims to determine the safety and tolerability of TMV-018 when given alone or in combination with the prodrug 5-Fluorocytosine (5-FC) or an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor in patients with gastrointestinal tumors. Furthermore, the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended Phase II dose of TMV-018 shall be determined.

Detailed description: This is an open-label, multicenter, dose-escalation phase I trial that aims to determine the safety and tolerability of TMV-018, an oncolytic measles virus encoding the prodrug converting enzyme "super cytosine deaminase", when given alone or in combination with the prodrug 5-Fluorocytosine (5-FC) or an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor up to day 72 in patients with colorectal carcinoma (left-sided or rectal), esophageal carcinoma, or gastric cancer. Furthermore, the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended Phase II dose of TMV-018 shall be determined.

At least 15 patients will be enrolled. Patients will be randomized to different treatment groups: all patients will receive intra-tumoral TMV-018 on four visits and additionally 5-FC and/or anti-PD-1 treatment. All adverse events will be documented and analyzed for the primary safety endpoint. Blood and tumor samples will be collected up to day 72 to determine the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the treatment. The patients will be followed-up for another two years to determine long-term safety.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Signed informed consent form must be obtained prior to any research procedures.
2. At least 18 years of age on the day of signing the informed consent.
3. Histologically confirmed diagnosis of advanced, metastatic tumors of the gastrointestinal tract (stage IV)
4. Before enrollment (i.e., at least 4 weeks before study treatment): Prior chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy, to treat cancer or major surgery have to be stopped at least 4 weeks prior to enrolment.
5. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤ 2 and life expectancy ≥ 3 months as assessed during screening period.
6. All female participants of childbearing potential, defined as all woman physiologically capable of becoming pregnant, must have a negative pregnancy test at screening.
7. Willingness not to become pregnant or to father a child during study participation by practicing reliable methods of contraception.
8. Patient must have exhausted all current standard therapy lines in the target cancer indications
9. Adequate organ function as determined by laboratory parameters.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who participated in other studies of anti-tumor therapy within 2 weeks before enrolment.
2. Patients with brain metastases.
3. Patients with poorly controlled hypertension, or cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases with clinical significance.
4. Patients with other serious organic diseases or mental disorders.
5. Patients with active infections, which cannot be controlled with drugs or have potential impact on treatment, or patients with concurrent opportunistic infections.
6. Patients exhibiting evidence of clinically significant immunosuppression such as primary or acquired immunodeficiency state
7. Pregnancy (positive pregnancy test at screening or before end of study participation) or lactation at screening or planning to become pregnant before completion of study participation.
8. Males who have sex to conceive a child / who want to donate semen, during the study and up to 4 months after the last dose of TMV-018, 5-FC or pembrolizumab.
9. Males and female subjects of childbearing potential who are unwilling to use double barrier methods of effective contraception
10. Patients with an impaired renal function (creatinine clearance ≤ 40 mL/min).
11. Patients currently or recently (\< 2 months) taking fluconazole, itraconazole, clotrimazole troches, itraconazole, amphotericin or other oral anti-fungal medications.
12. Patients with contraindications for treatment with flucytosine (5-FC)
13. Known hypersensitivity to 5-FU, known deficiency in dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD)
14. Known hypersensitivity to pembrolizumab, its excipients, or other monoclonal antibody.
15. Severe immune-related adverse reactions from treatment with pembrolizumab, defined as any grade 4 toxicity or grade 3 toxicity requiring corticosteroid treatment (\> 10 mg/day prednisone or equivalent) for greater than 12 weeks.
16. History or evidence of symptomatic autoimmune diseases.
17. Other medical condition or laboratory abnormality that in the judgment of the Investigator may increase the risk associated with study participation or may interfere with interpretation of study results.
18. History of severe systemic reaction or side-effect after a measles vaccination.
19. Subjects who continue to experience \> grade 1 Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) toxicity due to cancer therapy within 4 weeks prior to enrollment will not be eligible.
20. Use of anti-cancer treatments within 4 weeks of TMV-018 treatment start.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Frequency of Adverse Events
timeFrame: 4 years
measure: Determine MTD and dose for phase II
timeFrame: 1.5 years
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Viral replication
timeFrame: 2 years
measure: Viral distribution
timeFrame: 2 years
measure: Efficacy of therapy assessed by RECIST 1.1
timeFrame: 4 years
measure: Efficacy of therapy assessed by changes in tumor marker level
timeFrame: 4 years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Bonn
country: Germany
facility: University Hospital Bonn
city: Tübingen
country: Germany
facility: University Hospital Tübingen
Study officials:
affiliation: University Hospital Tuebingen
name: Ulrich Lauer, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: