In the last several months, three novel drugs that we have been following on this blog failed in late stage clinical trials. The drugs have diverse mechanisms of action:
Celldex’s vaccine against the mutated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRvIII), reduced the risk of death from the disease by 47% in a 73-patient randomized Phase 2 study called ReACT. In addition, the survival rate at two years was 25% for patients given the vaccine versus none in the control group. It marks the first time an immunotherapy treatment has improved survival in a randomized trial of glioblastoma patients, researchers said. It is also among the first cancer vaccines to show a survival benefit. Continue reading
Two companies, Celldex and Clovis, reported positive developments with their strategies to target the mutated Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor for patients with glioblastoma and lung cancer. Continue reading