Researchers find correlation between biomarker and patient’s ability to respond to Imprime PGG

Dec 5 2013

Biothera researchers have broadened their understanding of a biomarker that may enable doctors to predict which cancer patients will best respond to Imprime PGG^®, the company's immunotherapy in Phase 3 drug development for colorectal cancer. The new findings will be presented today at the VIC Congress - Vaccines, Immunotherapies and Cell Therapies, in Brussels.

The level of a blood serum-based biomarker determines if an individual's neutrophils and monocytes will bind Imprime PGG. These Imprime PGG bound innate immune cells are then modulated to kill antibody-targeted cancer cells. Biothera researchers have established the minimum level of biomarker that must be present for patients to be considered biomarker-positive and possess increased potential to respond to Imprime PGG.

In addition, researchers have discovered a correlation between the level of biomarker present in healthy volunteers with biological function of neutrophils once bound by Imprime PGG. In biomarker-positive individuals, researchers observed changes in innate immune cell functions related to Imprime PGG's binding, including induction of IL-8, CD62L loss and increased CR3 expression.

"The additional data provides stronger evidence of the correlation between the biomarker and the ability of a patient to respond to Imprime PGG," said Myra Patchen, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Biothera's Pharmaceutical Group.

"The clinical results of Imprime PGG to date in colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia have demonstrated impressive patient benefits," said Dan Conners, president of Biothera's Pharmaceutical Group. "Going forward, we are confident that biomarker-enriched clinical trials may generate even more dramatic results."

The VIC Congress presentation on Biothera's biomarker research is entitled, "The Challenges of Developing Immune Biomarkers for Cancer Immunotherapy." Mary Antonysamy, Ph.D., Biothera vice president of Preclinical and Translational Research, will give the presentation at 11 a.m. today.