Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celldex commence new cancer drug trial

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celldex Therapeutics have commenced a new clinical study to evaluate a promising new combination therapy for multiple cancer types.

The phase I/I dose escalation and cohort expansion study aims to examine an investigational combination of varlilumab, Celldex's CD27-targeting investigational immune-activating antibody, and Bristol-Myers Squibb's approved immunotherapy Opdivo.

It will be conducted in adult patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic melanoma, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, in order to test the hypothesis that the combination of the two drugs' mechanisms can enhance antitumor activity compared to either agent alone.

Celldex will be responsible for conducting the study itself, with development costs to be shared. The primary objective of the study is overall response rate, with secondary objectives including pharmacokinetics assessments, immunogenicity scores, duration of response, progression-free survival and overall survival.

This comes after Bristol-Myers Squibb allied with Lilly last month to evaluate a combination of Opdivo and galunisertib in the treatment of advanced solid tumours.