BOSTON, MA, USA I June 18, 2018 I Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZIOP) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed on clinical hold a Phase 1 trial to evaluate CD19-specific CAR-T therapies manufactured under point-of-care and requested additional information in support of the investigational new drug (IND) application for the trial.
Ziopharm, Precigen, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intrexon Corporation (NYSE:XON) and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the IND sponsor, are seeking to conduct a clinical trial to evaluate CAR+ T cells manufactured with Sleeping Beauty technology as an investigational treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory, CD19+ leukemias and lymphomas. CAR+ T cells very-rapidly manufactured with the Sleeping Beauty platform for this third-generation trial are designed to co-express CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, membrane-bound interleukin 15 and a safety switch. The FDA has requested additional information relative to Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls. Ziopharm and its partners will address the FDA’s requests, and the initiation of this trial may be delayed.
“We know what is needed to address the hold issues and are looking forward to responding to the agency in a timely manner,” said Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Ziopharm. “We are undertaking cutting-edge science and are on the verge of a paradigm shift based on our approach to very-rapidly manufacture CD19-specific T cells within two days using our non-viral approach to CAR-T therapy based on the Sleeping Beauty platform.”
Ziopharm believes this feedback from the FDA does not affect timelines for the Company’s planned trial at the National Cancer Institute using the Sleeping Beauty platform to target solid tumors infusing TCR-modified T cells. The second-generation clinical trial evaluating Sleeping Beauty-manufactured CD19-specific CAR-T cells continues enrolling and infusing patients at MD Anderson.
About Ziopharm Oncology, Inc.
Ziopharm Oncology is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the development of next-generation immunotherapies utilizing gene- and cell-based therapies to treat patients with cancer. In partnership with Precigen Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intrexon Corporation (NYSE:XON), Ziopharm is focused on the development of two platform technologies designed to deliver safe, effective and scalable cell- and viral-based therapies for the treatment of multiple cancer types: Controlled IL-12 and Sleeping Beauty for genetically modifying T cells. The Company’s lead asset, Ad-RTS-hIL-12 plus veledimex, has demonstrated in clinical trials the potential to control interleukin-12, leading to an infiltration of T cells that fight brain cancer. The Company also is advancing therapies using Sleeping Beauty, a non-viral approach to genetically modify chimeric antigen receptor (CAR+) and T-cell receptor (TCR+) T cells, which target specific antigens in blood cancers and neoantigens in solid tumors. Sleeping Beauty uses the Company’s so-called point-of-care technology, a shortened manufacturing process which potentially can be developed as a decentralized manufacturing process based in hospitals. These programs are being advanced in collaboration with Precigen and with MD Anderson Cancer Center, the National Cancer Institute and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
SOURCE: ZIOPHARM
Post Views: 18
BOSTON, MA, USA I June 18, 2018 I Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZIOP) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed on clinical hold a Phase 1 trial to evaluate CD19-specific CAR-T therapies manufactured under point-of-care and requested additional information in support of the investigational new drug (IND) application for the trial.
Ziopharm, Precigen, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intrexon Corporation (NYSE:XON) and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the IND sponsor, are seeking to conduct a clinical trial to evaluate CAR+ T cells manufactured with Sleeping Beauty technology as an investigational treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory, CD19+ leukemias and lymphomas. CAR+ T cells very-rapidly manufactured with the Sleeping Beauty platform for this third-generation trial are designed to co-express CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, membrane-bound interleukin 15 and a safety switch. The FDA has requested additional information relative to Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls. Ziopharm and its partners will address the FDA’s requests, and the initiation of this trial may be delayed.
“We know what is needed to address the hold issues and are looking forward to responding to the agency in a timely manner,” said Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Ziopharm. “We are undertaking cutting-edge science and are on the verge of a paradigm shift based on our approach to very-rapidly manufacture CD19-specific T cells within two days using our non-viral approach to CAR-T therapy based on the Sleeping Beauty platform.”
Ziopharm believes this feedback from the FDA does not affect timelines for the Company’s planned trial at the National Cancer Institute using the Sleeping Beauty platform to target solid tumors infusing TCR-modified T cells. The second-generation clinical trial evaluating Sleeping Beauty-manufactured CD19-specific CAR-T cells continues enrolling and infusing patients at MD Anderson.
About Ziopharm Oncology, Inc.
Ziopharm Oncology is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the development of next-generation immunotherapies utilizing gene- and cell-based therapies to treat patients with cancer. In partnership with Precigen Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intrexon Corporation (NYSE:XON), Ziopharm is focused on the development of two platform technologies designed to deliver safe, effective and scalable cell- and viral-based therapies for the treatment of multiple cancer types: Controlled IL-12 and Sleeping Beauty for genetically modifying T cells. The Company’s lead asset, Ad-RTS-hIL-12 plus veledimex, has demonstrated in clinical trials the potential to control interleukin-12, leading to an infiltration of T cells that fight brain cancer. The Company also is advancing therapies using Sleeping Beauty, a non-viral approach to genetically modify chimeric antigen receptor (CAR+) and T-cell receptor (TCR+) T cells, which target specific antigens in blood cancers and neoantigens in solid tumors. Sleeping Beauty uses the Company’s so-called point-of-care technology, a shortened manufacturing process which potentially can be developed as a decentralized manufacturing process based in hospitals. These programs are being advanced in collaboration with Precigen and with MD Anderson Cancer Center, the National Cancer Institute and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
SOURCE: ZIOPHARM
Post Views: 18
