The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy has announced the first patients have begun treatment in a new pancreatic cancer multi-center clinical trial. To combat the nation’s third deadliest cancer, the phase 1b/2 open-label study will explore the combination of standard chemotherapy and two immunotherapy agents: an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor and a novel antibody targeting CD40, a protein that when activated can drive the immune system to attack tumors.

A trial of this magnitude has many moving parts: multiple contracts and co-funders, a four-drug IND, a major industry partner, a biotech firm, and six university hospitals.

To bring this project to life, the Parker Institute and Cancer Research Institute have joined forces to collaborate with industry partner Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and biotech company Apexigen, Inc. The research will be conducted across the Parker Institute’s network of leading cancer research centers, led by the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The trial is expected to open imminently at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, followed by additional Parker Institute sites, including Stanford Medicine, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, San Francisco, and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Read the source article on the new pancreatic cancer clinical trial at Cancer Connect