HOUSTON, Jan. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLCM), a leader in developing novel, controllable cellular immunotherapies for cancers, today presented new Phase 1 translational results for BPX-601 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO GI) in San Francisco. The poster titled “Tumor Infiltration and Cytokine Biomarkers of Prostate Stem Cell Antigen (PSCA)-Directed GoCAR-T Cells in Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Tumors” presented new data from a cohort treated with BPX-601 and a single dose of rimiducid that showed immunomodulation in both the periphery and tumor microenvironment and provided additional insights into surrogate biomarkers of iMC-mediated GoCAR-T® activity.
“These translational results further support the potential for BPX-601 and for our GoCAR™ platform in solid tumors,” stated Rick Fair, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals. “We are particularly encouraged by the findings of tumor infiltration and GoCAR-T mediated immunomodulation. We will look to build on these markers of activity in the next cohort of the study, which will evaluate repeat rimiducid dosing to reactivate BPX-601 cells over time. Initial results from this Cohort 5C are expected during the second half of this year.”
The poster at ASCO GI presented data from Cohort 5B of the study, consisting of 5 pancreatic cancer patients treated with BPX-601 and a single dose of rimiducid. The primary observations were:
- BPX-601 GoCAR-T cells exhibited enhanced survival and persistence up to 9 months.
- Activation of BPX-601 GoCAR-T cells mediated upregulation of immunomodulatory cytokines in patients.
- BPX-601 GoCAR-T cells infiltrated metastatic pancreatic tumors.
- Changes in tumor microenvironment gene expression consistent with a productive CAR-T cell immune response were observed in patients treated with BPX-601 GoCAR-T cells activated by rimiducid.
Interim clinical results from the trial—including results from cohort 5B—were reported at ASCO on June 1, 2019 and may be found on the Bellicum website under Scientific Publications.
About BPX-601
BPX-601, the company’s first GoCAR-T® product candidate, incorporates iMC, Bellicum’s inducible co-activation domain. iMC (inducible MyD88/CD40) is designed to provide a powerful boost to T cell proliferation and persistence, production of immunomodulatory cytokines and enable the CAR-T to override key immune inhibitory mechanisms, including PD-1 and TGF-beta. BPX-601 is being evaluated as a treatment for pancreatic tumors expressing prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA).
About Bellicum Pharmaceuticals
Bellicum is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company striving to deliver cures through controllable cell therapies. The company’s next-generation product candidates are differentiated by powerful cell signaling technologies designed to produce more effective CAR-T and allogeneic cell therapies. Bellicum’s lead GoCAR-T® candidate, BPX-601, is designed to be a more efficacious CAR-T cell product capable of overriding key immune inhibitory mechanisms. More information about Bellicum can be found at www.bellicum.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Bellicum may, in some cases, use terms such as “predicts,” “believes,” “potential,” “proposed,” “continue,” “designed,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “may,” “could,” “might,” “will,” “should” or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things: the potential of BPX-601 in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, the relevance of translational data to prediction of clinical activity, and the potential of the GoCAR platform for the treatment of solid tumors, and whether further clinical trials of any GoCAR-enabled construct will produce favorable results. Various factors may cause differences between Bellicum’s expectations and actual results as discussed in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” in Bellicum’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and our annual report on Form 10-K the year ended December 31, 2018. Any forward-looking statements that Bellicum makes in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. Bellicum assumes no obligation to update our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.
Source: Bellicum Pharmaceuticals
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