Increased Treatment Efficacy and Clinical Success Potential Through Patient Selection Using Biomarkers
[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] MedPacto, a biomarker-based innovative drug development company, announced on the 16th that it presented initial results on the discovery of the VRGS biomarker for colorectal cancer patients at the annual meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), held online from the 9th to the 14th.
MedPacto discovered the biomarker "VRGS (Vactosertib response gene signature)" that can predict treatment response by administering the anticancer drug under development, 'Vactosertib,' in combination with the immuno-oncology drug 'Keytruda' to colorectal cancer patients.
Colorectal cancer is divided into microsatellite instability (MSI) and microsatellite stable (MSS) types. While treatment attempts are possible for MSI-type patients, MSS-type patients, who account for 86% of all patients, show low response to immuno-oncology monotherapy, making the development of alternative treatments urgent. Accordingly, MedPacto is conducting a phase 1b/2a combination clinical trial targeting the MSS patient group.
MedPacto analyzed a total of 2,530 genes from tumor tissues collected before and after combination administration in 24 MSS-type patients and selected fewer than 50 VRGS biomarkers. First, evaluating the clinical benefit rate (CBR), which combines objective response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS) for all patients in this trial, the result was 33.3%.
On the other hand, the CBR analyzed only in patients showing high expression of separately selected biomarkers was confirmed to be 85.7%. These data represent a meaningful achievement that suggests new treatment possibilities for MSS patients who could not expect an objective response rate with Keytruda monotherapy.
Based on these research results, MedPacto expects that selectively administering 'Vactosertib' only to patients who respond to the drug using the biomarker will yield high therapeutic effects. It also anticipates that this approach can dramatically increase the success rate of clinical trials and shorten development time.
A MedPacto official stated, "The follow-up clinical trial targeting MSS patients aims to apply the biomarker discovered this time, and we will improve treatment rates and clinical success rates through biomarker-guided selective administration in other clinical trials as well."
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