OncoSec Medical Inc (ONCSQ)

[hschlauch]

I don't think any IDO inhibitors are ineffective, because there are quite a few trial results - all early stage - that in general show benefits to adding an IDO inhibitor to anti-PD-1 treatments. In Newlink's case, it might simply be the types of solid tumors they are attempting to treat with Roche, e.g. non small cell lung cancer, triple negative breast cancer, that aren't responding too well, because they lack immunogenicity.

The Newlink IDO inhibitor combination data with Merck's Keytruda in metastatic melanoma was actually very similar to various Epacadostat and anti-PD-1 combinations in the same indication. I think the Newlink combo data demonstrated a 52% ORR with a CR of 10% in their anti-PD-1 naive patients.

If anything, I think TLR9 agonists are going to be competitive with intratumoral IL-12, because one downstream effect of these agonists is elevated production of interleukin 12. Successes in intratumoral TLR9 agonist treatments will likely translate into successes for intratumoral Il-12 electrogene transfer and vice versa. The mechanisms of action are similar, but TLR-9 agonist treatments are arguably more indirect, because they require intermediary steps to ultimately get to the production of interleukin 12. For TLR-9 agonists, they primarily rely on dendritic cells to produce the needed effect.