Dec 12 2011
Memgen, LLC announces the following abstract on ISF35, the Company's lead product, will be presented during the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in San Diego, CA.
An oral presentation, entitled Ad-ISF35-Transduced Autologous Cells In Combination with Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide, Rituximab (FCR) Induces Complete and Partial Responses In a Phase 1b Study for Patients with Fludarabine-Refractory and/or Del(17p)/p53-Defective Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is scheduled for December 11th at 5:45 pm PST in Elizabeth Ballroom DE at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego.
Dr. Januario Castro from Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego (UCSD), will provide updated results of a clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of ISF35 in combination with chemotherapy in patients with fludarabine-refractory and/or 17p-deleted CLL. Patients with 17p-deleted CLL typically have loss of functional p53, a tumor suppressor, rendering their leukemia refractory to chemotherapeutic agents. Patients in this study received their own tumor cells modified to express ISF35. Following ISF35 cell therapy, patients received monthly courses of FCR, a standard chemotherapy regimen.
The study investigators, including Dr. Castro and Dr. Thomas Kipps from UCSD, Dr. Javier Pinilla-Ibarz from Moffitt Cancer Center, and Dr. Lee Schwartzberg from The West Clinic, concluded that the combination of ISF35 cell therapy plus FCR appears to be well-tolerated and highly effective in the CLL patients examined, with a complete response rate higher than those reported in the literature. ISF35 plus chemoimmunotherapy could thus offer an effective treatment option for CLL patients whose cancer would otherwise be resistant to standard forms of therapy.