BeyondSpring announced that the first patient had been dosed in the Phase 1b/2 investigator-initiated trial, studying the safety and tolerability of plinabulin, in triple combination therapy with both PD-1/PD-L1 antibody (mAb) and radiation therapy (RT). This triple combination is actively recruiting at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, with Dr. Vivek Subbiah as principal investigator, in seven metastatic or locally advanced cancers, which include bladder cancer, melanoma, Merkel cell cancer, MSI-H cancers (of any histology), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cell cancer, and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The study is titled “An Open-label, Single-center, Phase 1b/2 Study to Evaluate the Safety of Plinabulin in Combination with Radiation/Immunotherapy in Patients with Select Advanced Malignancies after progression on PD-1 or PD-L1 Targeted Antibodies". Patients will receive a triple combo treatment of RT + plinabulin + anti-PD-1/PD-L1 mAb in Cycle 1, followed by anti-PD-1/PD-L1 mAb and plinabulin combo regimen in Cycle 2 and beyond until disease progression or development of unacceptable toxicity, withdrawal from study treatment, or discontinuation of this study. Plinabulin will be tested in combination with five different PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapies (avelumab, durvalumab, nivolumab, atezolizumab and pembrolizumab) and the exact dosing and treatment schedule will be determined by treatment cycle for each immunotherapy agent. The first patient progressed on Keytruda and chemotherapy in first-line NSCLC, and has been dosed with RT, plinabulin (30 mg/m2) and Keytruda.