Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. has entered into a clinical trial collaboration with Roche to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of varlilumab, Celldex’s CD27 targeting investigational antibody, and MPDL3280A (anti-PDL1), Roche’s investigational cancer immunotherapy in a Phase I/II study in renal cell carcinoma.

Varlilumab and MPDL3280A are part of a new class of investigational medicines known as cancer immunotherapies that are designed to harness the body’s own immune system to fight cancer through separate yet complementary mechanisms of action that may enable the activation of T cells, restoring their ability to effectively detect and attack tumor cells. Preclinical data suggest the combination of these two mechanisms are synergistic and may enhance anti-tumor immune response compared to either agent alone. In Celldex’s Phase I study of varlilumab in multiple solid tumors, promising signs of clinical activity in patients with refractory renal cell carcinoma were observed, including a durable partial response (11.0+ months) that has continued to decrease in tumor volume over time and prolonged stable disease (4 patients with a range of 5.3 to 30.7+ months).

Source: Celldex Therapeutics