Transgene's Pexa-Vec fails in mid-stage liver cancer study

French biotech firm Transgene (Euronext Paris: TNG) has revealed that TRAVERSE, a randomized Phase IIb study of Pexa-Vec (JX-594, pexastimogene devacirepvec) in second-line, advanced liver cancer patients had reached the pre-specified number of events for analysis.

However, the study failed to meet its primary endpoint of overall survival for Pexa-Vec plus best supportive care (BSC) compared to BSC. Pexa-Vec was generally well tolerated with an adverse event profile consistent with previous Pexa-Vec studies in patients with advanced HCC. Additional analyses will be conducted to further understand these data.

“The rapid progression in this devastating and heterogeneous disease setting has been a longstanding challenge for developing new therapies in liver cancer,” said Tony Reid, TRAVERSE investigator and professor of clinical medicine, division of hematology-oncology, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. He added: “Despite the disappointing outcome on the primary endpoint, the TRAVERSE study was well-conducted and no unexpected safety issues were observed. The field of oncolytic immunotherapy, including Pexa-Vec, continues to hold great promise for physicians and patients.”