AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly and Company announced Friday that they will be collaborating on a study to determine the preliminary efficacy and safety of MEDI4736, AstraZeneca's investigational anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, when combined with Lilly's CYRAMZA (ramucirumab), a VEGF Receptor 2 antiangiogenic cancer medicine. The collaboration will assess if the combination treatment will work for patients harboring advanced tumors.
Researchers are hopeful that the Phase I clinical trial will be resulting into a recommended regimen for dosing as well as the establishment of safety for the combination treatment. According to the terms of the collaboration, Lilly will be in charge of sponsoring the clinical trial. There was no information though, on as to what types of tumors will be included in the clinical trial and what kind of financial terms were agreed upon by AstraZeneca and Lilly.
A monoclonal antibody, MEDI4736 is developed by AstraZeneca's MedImmune. It is designed to target programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), which is responsible for helping tumors evade being detected by the immune system of the body.
Ramucirumab, on the other hand, is an antagonist specifically designed for binding and blocking the activation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) Receptor 2. It does so by binding VEGF-D, VEGF-C and VEGF-A, all VEGF receptor ligands.
According to preclinical data, combining agents that target PD-L1 and VEGFR inhibitors have the potential to boost activity in the body against tumors. This is what the AstraZeneca-Lilly collaboration will be exploring.
"We believe that combination therapy in immuno-oncology has the potential to transform the way cancer is treated," said Robert Iannone, Global Medicines Development Immuno-oncology head for AstraZeneca.
Richard Gaynor, M.D., senior vice president for product development and medical affairs at Lilly Oncology, added that the collaboration ushers in the next step in researching the field of immuno-oncology. He is also hopeful that the collaboration would result in the discovery of a new cancer treatment.
MEDI4736 has been accelerated into Phase III development for non-small cell lung cancer and neck and head cancer and will be evaluated through the OCEANS clinical development program as a treatment on its own and in combination with tremelimumab for the cancers mentioned.
Ramucirumab has already been approved for use in the United States as a treatment on its own or alongside paclitaxel in treating patients with metastatic or advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma not addressed by chemotherapy with platinum or fluoropyrimidine. Additionally, it has also been approved for treating metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer.
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