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ASCO conference: Jounce drug shrinks multiple tumor types in phase 1/2 study

Jounce Therapeutics Inc. said the phase 1/2 trial of JTX-2011 showed that the drug shrank tumors in heavily pre-treated patients with certain advanced cancers.

The study, dubbed Iconic, evaluated JTX-2011 as a single therapy and in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s PD-1 inhibitor Opdivo. About 65% of the patients under the study have received three or more prior treatments for their disease.

Jounce said patients that expressed an ICOS biomarker responded better to the drug. Biomarkers are measurable substances in certain patients whose presence indicates that they may or may not respond well to a particular treatment.

The biomarker was present in all seven patients who saw a partial response in their target lesions after being given the drug, and was absent in 10 out of 10 subjects who saw their disease progress.

"We are encouraged by the early signal of clinical activity in heavily pre-treated patients, accompanied by an ICOS pharmacodynamic biomarker," said Chief Medical Officer Elizabeth Trehu. "We believe that this biomarker may help guide further development of JTX-2011."

Under the trial, one out of eight gastric cancer patients in the phase 2 part of the study showed a partial response, or a specific reduction in the size of the cancer, when given JTX-2011 as a single therapy.

When given JTX-2011 in combination with Opdivo, one out of four gastric cancer patients in phase 1 and one of 28 phase 2 patients showed partial response to the therapy. Disease control was seen in 10 of 28 phase 2 patients receiving the combination, while eight of 28 phase 2 patients saw tumor reductions.

Meanwhile, one of 17 phase 2 patients with triple negative breast cancer showed a partial response to JTX-2011 plus Opdivo, while disease control was seen in three out of 17 phase 2 patients. Tumor reductions were seen in two of 17 phase 2 patients given the combination.

Disease control was seen in seven of 12 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who took the combination and who were previously not cured by PD-1 inhibitors. Tumor reductions were seen in four of the 12 phase 2 patients given the combination.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Jounce said it also plans to evaluate JTX-2011 in combination with Bristol-Myers' Yervoy, or ipilimumab, and Merck & Co. Inc.'s Keytruda, or pembrolizumab.

The 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting is expected to bring together more than 32,000 professionals from all over the world, with more than 2,500 study abstracts to be presented on-site and an additional 3,350 abstracts to be published online.