In the ASCO Developmental Therapeutics – Immunotherapy Session, Dr. Howard Safran presents encouraging data on Dragonfly's phase 1/2 study of DF1001, an immune engaging TriNKET® targeting HER2 in patients with advanced solid tumors.
WALTHAM, Mass., June 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapies, announces the first presentation of its DF1001 TriNKET immune engager clinical data at the ASCO 2023 Annual Meeting in Chicago. The presentation, given by lead investigator Dr. Howard P. Safran, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at the Lifespan Cancer Institute and Medical Director for the Brown University Oncology Group, describes Dragonfly's Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its DF1001 HER2-targeting TriNKET®, a first-in-human study exploring the safety, tolerability, and preliminary biological and clinical activity of DF1001.
Dr. Howard P. Safran, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at the Lifespan Cancer Institute and Medical Director for the Brown University Oncology Group at the ASCO 2023 Annual Meeting
"I am glad to now share that Dragonfly's DF1001 has completed safety evaluation and reached its Phase 2 dose with 67% of patient paired biopsies showing pharmacodynamic response, and clear signs of clinical benefit in both monotherapy and in combination," said Dr. Safran. "We have not seen toxicity nor hit a Maximum Tolerated Dose, and we are seeing encouraging clinical efficacy signals in a heavily pretreated heterogeneous population of patients with advanced cancer. Single agent activity was seen in both HER2 high and HER2 low patients who previously progressed on prior HER2 directed therapies."
As of the April 14th data cutoff for ASCO presentation, Dragonfly has treated 106 patients with DF1001 monotherapy. DF1001 was safe and well tolerated as monotherapy at biweekly doses up to 15 mg/kg and has successfully progressed through Phase 1 combinations with both nivolumab and nab-paclitaxel. There have been no DLTs with DF1001 during the monotherapy dose-escalation phase.
DF1001 pharmacodynamic activity was demonstrated in 67% (28/42) of paired biopsies in monotherapy.
Preclinical data shows TriNKETs directly and indirectly stimulate NK cells, γδ T cells, and CD8+ T cells. The biopsies, collected before and 4-6 weeks after patients started DF1001 treatment, showed a trend of increased infiltration with CD8+ T-cells and/or NK cells in the tumor, demonstrating proof of concept.
DF1001 yielded promising anticancer activity associated with immune cell infiltration and activation in tumors of heavily pretreated patients - who had received up to 16 lines of prior therapy and with both HER2 low and HER2 high expressing cancers.
DF1001 has generated RECIST responders as a monotherapy in heavily pretreated patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC), Colorectal Cancer (CRC), Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and Gastro Esophageal Cancer.
At active dose ranges, twenty-five percent of MBC patients (the majority of whom were HER2 low) showed a clinical response, even when treated with an average of six lines of prior therapy.
"We are very encouraged by this Phase 1 DF1001 TriNKET data, which confirm Dragonfly's preclinical studies showing TriNKETs' remarkably appealing safety profile, and notable efficacy including in low- and heterogeneous HER2 expression environments," said Joseph Eid, Dragonfly's President of R&D, "we look forward to our Phase 2 signal-seeking expansion trials, which have begun already in monotherapy and in combination with other therapies in defined patient populations, and in earlier lines of therapy."
DF1001 has also shown clinical benefit including RECIST responses in combination with nivolumab or nab paclitaxel.
Clinical trial sites are open in the U.S., France, Belgium, Denmark and The Netherlands.
Additional information about the trial, including eligibility criteria, can be found at: https://clinicaltrials.gov (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04143711).
There are six Dragonfly developed drugs in the clinic – including DF1001.
About DF1001
DF1001 is an investigational first-in-class immune engaging drug candidate targeting HER2 that drives immune activation in solid tumors. DF1001 stimulates co-activating NK receptors, where NKG2D and CD16 co-stimulation yields distinctive and potent NK cell, γδ T cell, and CD8+ T cell activation. DF1001 is being evaluated in adult patients for the treatment of advanced solid HER2-positive tumors. DF1001 was discovered and developed using Dragonfly's TriNKET Platform. DF1001 has the potential to stimulate effective anti-tumor immunity in patients who are not eligible or not adequately responding to current therapies. DF1001 is the most advanced in a pipeline of TriNKETs that Dragonfly is developing to address high unmet needs for patients across a broad range of disease areas.
About Dragonfly's TriNKET® Platform
Dragonfly's TriNKET Platform is the basis for a portfolio of novel therapeutics that are designed as natural combinations harnessing NK cells, γδ T cells, CD8+ T cells and other cells of the innate and adaptive immune system, which when activated cause cancer cell cytolysis and provide a unique therapeutic window beyond current therapies for treatment of cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases.
About Dragonfly
Dragonfly Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing therapies that use its novel bispecific antibody technology to harness the body's immune system to bring breakthrough treatments to patients. In addition to its wholly-owned clinical assets and multiple assets in the clinic with partners, Dragonfly has a deep pipeline of wholly-owned preclinical candidates developed using its proprietary platforms as well as productive collaborations with Merck, AbbVie, Gilead and Bristol Myers Squibb in a broad range of disease areas.