[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] HL Biopharma announced on the 22nd that complete remission was observed in non-small cell lung cancer and gallbladder cancer in clinical studies conducted in China on rivoceranib (Chinese name Apatinib) and camrelizumab (PD-1 antibody).
Following the observation of complete remission in the combination clinical trial of rivoceranib and camrelizumab for hepatocellular carcinoma on the 10th, another case of complete remission has emerged, highlighting the excellent efficacy and versatility of rivoceranib. Cases of complete remission with rivoceranib have also been reported at academic conferences such as ESMO 2020 in gastric cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and T-cell lymphoma.
The gallbladder cancer clinical trial was conducted at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University on patients with recurrent gallbladder cancer with multiple liver metastases. Administration of camrelizumab and rivoceranib resulted in confirmed complete tumor remission. The patient showed low tumor mutation burden (TMB) and microsatellite stability (MSS), which are biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibition, as well as low expression of PD-1 and PD-L1, verifying the synergistic effect of the combination therapy of rivoceranib and camrelizumab.
Additionally, in a clinical trial conducted on 105 patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer at Tongji University in Shanghai and other institutions, one patient receiving rivoceranib and camrelizumab showed complete remission. The objective response rate (ORR) was 30.9%, median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 5.7 months, and median overall survival (mOS) was 15.5 months. Biomarker analysis showed more significant results in patients with STK11/KEAP1 mutations.
This clinical trial once again demonstrated that rivoceranib, which targets vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) to inhibit neovascularization, suppress cancer cell proliferation, and promote normalization of immune cells, lowers PD-1 expression, activates NK cells, and effectively stimulates immune responses within the tumor microenvironment.
An HL Biopharma official stated, "It has already been confirmed through combination clinical trials with nivolumab (Opdivo) that rivoceranib activates immune cells and enhances the efficacy of immuno-oncology drugs." He added, "In addition to the ongoing phase 3 first-line liver cancer trial in combination with camrelizumab, we will rapidly proceed with combination clinical trials with immuno-oncology drugs for various solid tumors."
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