Verrica completes dosing in basal cell carcinoma immunotherapy trial

Key takeaways:

• VP-315 is an oncolytic peptide immunotherapy injected directly into BCC tumors.
• The phase 2 trial includes 80 patients with biopsy-proven BCC.

The phase 2 clinical trial of Verrica’s peptide-based immunotherapy trial for basal cell carcinoma has enrolled and dosed its final patient, the company announced in a press release.

VP-315, a first-in-class oncolytic peptide, is designed to be a nonsurgical treatment for basal cell carcinoma (BCC) by injecting directly into a tumor to induce immunogenic cell death.

The open label, multicenter, dose escalation, proof-of-concept, phase 2 trial is assessing the treatment’s efficacy in 80 adult patients with biopsy-proven BCC.

“We are pleased to announce that part 2 of our phase 2 clinical trial of VP-315 for the

treatment of basal cell carcinoma has been fully enrolled and the last patient has been dosed,” Ted White, MBA, president and CEO of Verrica, said in the release. “Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer in the U.S. each year and patients are in need of alternative solutions to surgery which can cause pain, infection and scarring. Verrica’s VP-315 program is designed to provide for the targeted delivery of an oncolytic peptide engineered to stimulate the patient’s immune system and destroy cancer cells.”

According to White, the study is on track and data from the phase 2 clinical trial will be shared later this year.