LEEDS, England, June 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- 4D pharma plc (AIM: DDDD), a pharmaceutical company leading the development of Live Biotherapeutics, today announces the presentation of a poster detailing its Phase I/II clinical study of MRx0518 combined with KEYTRUDA in patients with solid tumours who have failed prior anti-PD-1 therapy at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, USA. ASCO is the world's largest conference in the field of clinical oncology and attracts approximately 39,000 oncology professionals from around the world to discuss state-of-the-art treatment modalities, new therapies, and ongoing controversies in the field.
The poster describes the proposed mechanism of action of MRx0518 and preclinical data in addition to details about the Phase I/II study which is currently enrolling patients. This clinical study is taking place at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and is part of 4D's clinical collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada). The poster was presented on Saturday 1 June during the session, "Developmental Immunotherapy and Tumor Immunobiology" (poster number TPS2670). The lead author of the poster was Shubham Pant, M.D., MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas.
Alex Stevenson, 4D's Chief Scientific Officer, commented: "We are pleased to have presented this poster at such a prestigious oncology meeting."
A copy of the poster can be viewed at https://www.4dpharmaplc.com/en/newsroom/posters-and-publications.
About 4D
Founded in February 2014, 4D is a world leader in the development of Live Biotherapeutics, a novel and emerging class of drugs, defined by the FDA as biological products that contain a live organism, such as a bacterium, that is applicable to the prevention, treatment or cure of a disease.? 4D has developed a proprietary platform that rationally identifies novel bacteria based on a deep understanding of function and mechanism.? 4D's Live Biotherapeutic products are orally delivered single strains of bacteria that are naturally found in the healthy human gut.? 4D has three clinical studies in progress, namely a Phase II clinical study of Blautix in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a Phase I/II study of MRx0518 in combination with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in solid tumours and a Phase I study of MRx0518 in a neoadjuvant setting for patients with solid tumours. Other focus programmes include disease areas such as asthma and CNS disease.
About Cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Globally, it is estimated that there were around 18 million new cases in 2018 and that almost 10 million people died of cancer, making it the leading cause of death world-wide. The number of new cancer cases per year is expected to rise to 23.6 million by 2030. The global market for oncology drugs is expected to reach $111.9bn by 2020.
The microbiome has been implicated in cancer treatment and response in a range of clinical settings including standard chemotherapy. The microbiome profile of patients has been demonstrated to drive response to anti-PD-1 therapy in both melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer.
About MRx0518
As both a monotherapy and in combination settings MRx0518 has demonstrated robust efficacy as an immuno-stimulant and anti-tumour agent in multiple tumour models such as breast cancer, renal cell carcinoma and lung cancer. MRx0518 acts on both the innate and adaptive immune system to induce a response mediated by TLR-5.
The Company is investigating MRx0518 across a range of clinical cancer settings in 2019. In collaboration with Merck, Sharpe & Dohme (Merck & Co. Inc), MRx0518 is being evaluated in an open label Phase I/II study of MRx0518 in combination with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in patients with solid tumours who have failed prior anti-PD-1 therapy. A Phase I randomised, placebo-controlled study of MRx0518 as a monotherapy in a neoadjuvant setting for solid tumours has also commenced.
For more information, refer to https://www.4dpharmaplc.com/.
KEYTRUDA is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA.
For further information please contact:
Duncan Peyton
Chief Executive Officer
+44-(0)113-895-0130
Fay Weston
Head of Investor Relations
+44-(0)7990-381713
