Immune Design partners with Genzyme to test CMB305 with atezolizumab

In a second accord announced within a week, USA-based Immune Design (Nasdaq: IMDZ) has entered into a clinical trial collaboration with Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX).

The companies plan to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Immune Design's CMB305 cancer immunotherapy product candidate combined with the investigational cancer immunotherapy atezolizumab (MPDL3280A; anti-PDL1) in a randomized Phase II trial in patients with soft tissue sarcoma.

CMB305 is a "prime-boost" cancer immunotherapy product designed to synergistically induce anti-tumor cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) to target NY-ESO-1, a tumor antigen found in a broad set of tumors. Atezolizumab is a PD-L1 antagonist and is designed to block inhibitory T-cell checkpoints and allow cytotoxic T cells to reach the tumor. The randomized, open label Phase 2 trial will evaluate CMB305 and atezolizumab in patients with locally advanced, relapsed, or metastatic synovial sarcoma or myxoid/round-cell liposarcoma, two types of sarcoma that tend to express NY-ESO-1 broadly.