Partnership announces addition of novel cancer-killing biologic to glioblastoma trial

A California-based nonprofit and a biotechnology firm announced the activation of novel biologic ADI-PEG 20 in the GBM AGILE platform trial, a study that evaluates therapies for individuals with newly diagnosed or recurring glioblastoma.

According to a joint release from Global Coalition for Adaptive Research and Polaris Pharmaceuticals Inc, the trial — which aims to quickly identify and confirm efficacious therapies for those with the highly potent brain cancer — opened in July 2019 and has since screened more than 1,500 patients.

Currently in development by Polaris, ADI-PEG 20 was intended to treat various cancers via arginine, an amino acid involved in protein synthesis and cell survival. Because certain cancer cells require an external supply of arginine to survive and grow, ADI-PEG 20 is designed to deplete that supply, causing these cells to die while leaving normal cells unharmed, the release said.

The investigational therapeutic is expected to be evaluated at multiple clinical trial sites in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia in patients with newly diagnosed unmethylated O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), newly diagnosed methylated MGMT and recurrent glioblastoma, the joint release revealed, with Macarena de la Fuente, MD, associate professor of neurology at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and Nicholas Blondin, MD, assistant professor of clinical neurology at Yale School of Medicine serving as principal investigators.

“We are excited to initiate the evaluation of ADI-PEG 20 in GBM AGILE, a cutting-edge adaptive trial designed to rapidly identify whether drugs such as ADI-PEG 20 can bring benefit to patients with glioblastoma,” Howard Chen, chairman and CEO, Polaris Group, stated in the release.