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ASCO conference: Idera, Bristol-Myers drug combo shrinks tumors in phase 3 trial

Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s drug tilsotolimod in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s Yervoy shrank the tumors of patients with a certain type of skin cancer in a late-stage trial.

Data from the ongoing phase 3 trial, named Illuminate-204, showed that the combo therapy reduced the tumor size in 38% of the 21 evaluable patients with melanoma that did not respond to anti-PD-1 treatment and had spread to other parts of the body. In addition, two of the patients had no detectable signs of cancer.

PD-1 is a protein on the surface of T cells that curbs the cell's inflammatory response to invaders. Inhibiting or blocking this stimulates the immune system to fight cancer.

The trial is expected to enroll up to 60 patients, with enrollment expected to completed by the end of 2018.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Idera is also evaluating the combination therapy versus Yervoy alone in patients with anti-PD-1 refractory melanoma in a separate trial called Illuminate-301.

The drug combo has received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's fast-track designation as a treatment for anti-PD-1 refractory metastatic melanoma.

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.