Oncimmune Holdings plc (LON:ONC), the leading global immunodiagnostics group, has announced that the Company has signed further commercial contracts within its ImmunoINSIGHTS pharma services business.
MSA and Commercial Contract Signed with Leading Global Pharmaceutical Company
Following the recent signing of a MSA with a leading global pharmaceutical company, the Company is pleased to report that it has signed a commercial contract to provide autoantibody biomarker services. A second contract has been agreed and is expected to be signed in the next few days. Both programmes are scheduled to complete and be invoiced by the end of FY2022 and the Company expects these programmes to lead to follow-on studies.
Under the first contract, Oncimmune will develop a multiplexed assay to measure Immunoglobulin E (IgE) autoantibodies on its SeroTagTM platform for planned autoimmune studies. In the second, pending contract, Oncimmune will evaluate the autoantibody profiles of patient samples collected in an autoimmune trial for chronic idiopathic urticaria1 (“CIU”). This study will measure the autoimmune profile in chronic, idiopathic (meaning ‘of unknown cause’) cases of CIU and aims to uncover insights that will support the clinical development of a therapeutic for CIU.
Commercial Collaboration Agreement Signed with The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (“EORTC”)
The Company has signed an autoantibody profiling collaboration with the EORTC, an independent, non-profit cancer research organisation whose mission is to coordinate and conduct international translational and clinical research to improve the standard of cancer treatment for patients. The new research project, co-funded with the EORTC Melanoma Group and MSD, will evaluate the autoantibody profiles of patient samples collected in the ongoing phase 3 EORTC1325/KEYNOTE-054 trial investigating KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy, as monotherapy for surgically resected, high-risk melanoma.
The project will explore autoantibody profiles as biomarkers of clinical response in patients with melanoma recruited onto the EORTC1325/KEYNOTE-054 trial, which assessed pembrolizumab versus placebo in an adjuvant setting (in which the drug is administered after surgery). Pembrolizumab is an immune check point inhibitor (“CPI”) with uses in over 15 types of cancer, including for the treatment of melanoma skin cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma.
The project will use the Company’s SeroTag immuno oncology discovery array to explore the response to therapy and the potential for immune related adverse events among patients treated with pembrolizumab, nivolumab and ipilimumab. The utility of the Company’s SeroTag immuno oncology discovery array was previously reported when the results of a prior study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in 2020.2 The aim of this new research project is to explore whether autoantibody patterns are associated with recurrence-free survival in the adjuvant setting.
Oncimmune has already studied autoantibodies in patients receiving CPI therapy, including pembrolizumab, and this research project builds on this scientific knowledge, expanding the discovery antigen set and focusing on recurrence among patients treated with pembrolizumab in the adjuvant setting.
New Academic Collaborations expand use of ImmunoINSIGHTS Technology Platform into CAR-T and CAR-NK Cell Therapies with New Academic Collaborations
Additionally, the Company is also in the final stages of agreeing two new collaborations with world-leading US-based academic institutes. These new collaborations will in part focus on new market segments for our existing technology platform, including chimeric antigen receptor cell therapy cells and chimeric antigen receptor natural killer cells. CAR-T and CAR-NK cell therapies are some of the fastest growing segments in the pharmaceutical market globally and represent significant clinical and commercial growth opportunities for the ImmunoINSIGHTS business.
Dr Adam M Hill, CEO of Oncimmune said: “Earlier this month we reported on the commercial momentum we have experienced in Q2 FY2022 and committed to update investors on further commercial progress before the end of the calendar year. We are therefore delighted to announce the signing of this MSA with a leading global pharma group, which has enabled the awarding of a contract utilising our ImmunoINSIGHTS autoantibody biomarker service and a second contract expected to be signed in the next few days. We are also excited to have signed the agreement with EORTC for a profiling collaboration for the important, much-needed drug, KEYTRUDA.
“These agreements further demonstrate the applicability and significance of our ImmunoINSIGHTS service to key players within both the pharmaceutical industry and research field and represents another endorsement of the capabilities of ImmunoINSIGHTS to contribute to medical innovation. We also have forthcoming collaborations with two leading US-based academic institutions within CAR-T and CAR-NK represent an exciting expansion of our technology platform into these fast-growing markets.
“These contracts announced today and earlier this month underpin the commercial momentum we are currently experiencing and we look forward to building on this in the coming months.”
1 CIU, also known as hives, is a skin disease which is often caused by an allergic reaction to food or drugs. In a small number of cases, the disease is chronic and of unknown cause.
2 Hassel, J.C., et al. (2020). Autoantibodies as predictors for survival and immune-related adverse events in checkpoint inhibition therapy of metastasised melanoma. J. Clin. Oncol. 38, 10011-10011.
