Pharmaceutical Business review

Innovent, Chipscreen Biosciences to assess combination therapy in colorectal cancer patients

Image: Innovent announces a collaboration with Chipscreen Biosciences to evaluate the combination therapy in colorectal cancer patients. Photo: courtesy of jk1991/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Under the collaboration, the firms will evaluate the safety and tolerability of the combination therapy of Innovent’s Tyvyt (generic name: sintilimab injection), a fully human anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (anti-PD-1) monoclonal antibody and IBI305, a biosimilar product candidate of bevacizumab and a recombinant humanized anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) monoclonal antibody, with Chipscreen Biosciences’ Chidamide, a benzamide-based selective inhibitor of class I (subtypes 1, 2, 3) and IIb (subtype 10) histone deacetylases (HDACs), in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Under the terms of the agreement, Chipscreen Biosciences and Innovent will jointly in China to explore potential applications of this combination on colorectal cancer and to evaluate its safety and tolerability.

“There are significant unmet medical needs for patients with advanced colorectal cancer, and the combination treatment with different targeted therapies may serve as an additional solution to these patients”, said Chipscreen Biosciences’s Executive Vice President, Dr. Zhiqiang Ning. “We look forward to partnering with Innovent to explore a potential clinical application with the combination regimen of immune check-point inhibitor, angiogenesis inhibitor and epigenetic modulator in this indication.”

“Epigenetic aberrations appear to be one of the major causes of resistance to immune-oncological therapies. Chidamide, a novel epigenetic modulating agent discovered in China, seems to reverse patient resistance to immune therapy in early clinical studies,” said Innovent’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Kerry Blanchard. “We are pleased to be partnering with Chipscreen Biosciences to explore combination therapy with Sintilimab, IBI305, and Chidamide in colorectal cancer. We hope this collaboration will eventually benefit those patients in need.”

Source: Company Press Release