Medpacto, a subsidiary of Theragen Etex, is increasing its presence in the global immunotherapy field as it expands its clinical cooperation with multinational pharmaceutical companies.

The company announced last Tuesday that it had entered an agreement with both Merck and AstraZeneca to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MedPacto’s vactosertib (TEW-7197) -- a small molecule oral inhibitor of TGF-β type I receptor (TGFBRI) -- with the two companies’ drugs.

MedPacto and AstraZeneca will collaborate on a non-exclusive basis to evaluate the combination of the two drugs in NSCLC. MedPacto expects to initiate a phase 1b/2a clinical trial in the second half of 2018 to establish the safety and efficacy of vactosertib in combination with durvalumab. MedPacto will sponsor and fund the study, while AstraZeneca will supply durvalumab.

The company plans to conduct the trial in several sites in Korea, including Yonsei Severance Hospital and National Cancer Center and expects to complete the trial within two years.

Regarding its collaboration with Merck, the two companies have signed an agreement to evaluate the safety and efficacy of vactosertib in combination with Keytruda (Ingredient: pembrolizumab), MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in patients with metastatic or locally advanced colorectal and gastric cancer.

Under the terms of the agreement, MedPacto will conduct a phase 1b clinical trial to establish the safety and dose of the combination agents. Following the identification of a recommended dose, MedPacto plans to initiate a Phase 2a study to explore the efficacy of the combination in treating metastatic or locally advanced colorectal and gastric cancer.

“We are pleased to initiate this exciting trial collaboration with AstraZeneca and Merck,” MedPacto CEO Kim Seong-Jin said. “For our collaboration with AstraZeneca, the company believes the collaboration is very timely since preliminary data on the combined targeting of PD-L1 and TGF-β with a bispecific has shown progress in increasing response rates in patients with NSCLC.”

For the company’s collaboration with Merck, the company believes that Vactosertib’s immuno-modulatory role in combination with Keytruda is very promising for increasing responses in metastatic or locally advanced colorectal and gastric cancer, Kim added.​​​​​

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