They temporarily put on hold the study as they are now pursuing combinations with the ImmunoPulse platform only. Till present date, there is nothing available to combat MCC which is a rare disease that has an approximate mortality rate of 40 per cent with current treatment approaches. Oncosec had decided to wait until an Anti-CTLA4, Anti-PD1 or Anti-PD-L1 is closer to the market. In the meantime, on June 11, 2013, they began a pre-clinical experiment testing all three proteins in collaboration with Old Dominion University and the Frank Reidy Research Center, to see which protein might give the best results in a future combination study.
Currently Pfizer and Merck have agreed to collaborate on the development of the Anti-PD-L1 inhibitor MSB0010718C, and there is already a mid-stage trial of anti-PD-L1 in patients with MCC on its way. By the time that study is completed, Oncosec will be more advanced on their combination trial with Keytruda (anti PD-1) and will be able to show that ImmunoPulse of IL-12 can make a difference when combined with the protein.
Also, on a recent study of MCC, Dr. Bhatia designed a trial to evaluate ID-G100 in patients with MCC. The trial will provide insights into the ability of ID-G100 to stimulate an immune response in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma. G100 is an investigational immuno-oncology agent designed to generate a robust anti-tumor immune response when administered directly to the tumor micro-environment. Immune Design, a clinical stage bio company with a recent IPO that is trading at $16 and worth comparing to Oncosec, is the company in collaboration with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where Oncosec also has a clinical research division and is working along with Dr.Bhatia, who has already done an exploratory analysis of samples from Oncosec’s data collected from patients in the Phase II study in Merkel cell carcinoma trial and will give out final clinical results later this month.
There are studies on the works for Merkel cell carcinoma and Oncosec just needs to show good results on their end.
