BioWorld International Correspondent

PARIS - The gene therapy company Transgene SA reported positive results from Phase I trials of two cancer therapies based on the latest version of its adenoviral vector, one delivering the interferon gamma gene and the other the interleukin-2 gene.

The adeno-interferon gamma product, Ad-IFNg, was tested in the indication of cutaneous lymphoma at the dermatology unit of Zurich University Hospital, while the adeno-interleukin-2 (Ad-IL2) product was tested on patients with metastatic melanoma and other solid tumors at the Zurich hospital and at the medical oncology unit of Basel Kantonspital.

They were the first clinical trials of what Transgene calls its third-generation adenoviral vector, and both yielded positive results in the efficiency of gene transfer and the degree of cytokine expression. In both cases, the treatment was well tolerated up to the highest dose levels, the company said, while Ad-IFNg also produced promising clinical responses in terms of tumor regression or stabilization.

According to the principal investigator for that product, Reinhard Dummer, the trial "showed a high number of local and distant tumor regressions associated with negligible side effects." Given the limited number of therapies available to treat cutaneous lymphoma, he said, Ad-IFNg should be tested in larger patient populations. Nine patients were enrolled in the Phase I trial.

The CEO of Strasbourg-based Transgene, Jean-François Carmier, described the results as an "important milestone," which demonstrated that the company had "now built a solid adenoviral platform for continuing the development of other immunotherapeutic products." Adenoviral vectors are one of three families of vectors the company is developing, the others being vaccine and nonviral vectors. It has five products in clinical development, two of which are in Phase II trials in seven different indications.