Peregrine, AstraZeneca Expand Immunotherapy Alliance

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has expanded its ongoing cancer immunotherapy clinical collaboration with AstraZeneca to include a second, late-stage trial. The companies will now evaluate the combination of Peregrine’s phosphatidylserine (PS)-targeted immune-activator, bavituximab, and AstraZeneca’s anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, durvalumab (MEDI4736), in a global Phase II study in previously treated squamous or non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Peregrine will conduct the randomized Phase II trial.

This new study builds on the non-exclusive collaboration initiated in August 2015 to conduct a Phase I/Ib trial evaluating the combination of bavituximab and durvalumab with chemotherapy in multiple solid tumors.

Bavituximab and durvalumab are investigational immunotherapies with different mechanisms that assist the body’s immune system in fighting cancer. Bavituximab targets and modulates the activity of phosphatidylserine, a highly immune-suppressive molecule expressed broadly on the surface of cells in the tumor microenvironment. Durvalumab is a monoclonal antibody directed against programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1). Signals from PD-L1 help tumors avoid detection by the immune system.

“In the short period of time that we have been working with AstraZeneca, we have been very impressed with the company’s commitment to innovative translational efforts that will help us better understand the dynamics of tumor immunity and clinical response to durvalumab and bavituximab combination in a range of cancers,” said Joseph Shan, MPH, vice president, clinical and regulatory affairs of Peregrine. “We expect this extension of our collaboration with AstraZeneca will allow us to run a much more cost-effective and time-efficient trial than would have been possible under our previously planned study using Opdivo as the combination drug in the same lung cancer population.