Bionomics Limited announced that an experimental Phase 2 clinical trial of its cancer drug candidate, BNC105, in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb's nivolumab (OPDIVO®), has completed recruitment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Final results from the trial are projected for early 2023. The trial, MODULATE, is being sponsored by the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group (AGITG) and supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb. It is being conducted at 16 clinical oncology sites around Australia. The AGITG is conducting the MODULATE trial to evaluate new experimental approaches to immunotherapy treatment in colorectal cancer patients. In one arm of the trial, it is investigating whether Bionomics' BNC105, a vascular disrupting agent, combined with nivolumab, a PD-1 (programmed death-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor, can be used to treat advanced colorectal cancer patients who have exhausted other treatment options. A second group of patients are receiving nivolumab in combination with a Signal Transduction Activator of Transcription (STAT3) inhibitor. Immunotherapy is a promising treatment for a number of cancers and uses the patient's own immune system to target and attack the cancer tumour. It works by stimulating lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, which have infiltrated the tumour. The MODULATE trial aims to investigate whether BNC105, as a vascular disrupting agent that damages the tumour blood vessels leading to changes in the tumour microenvironment, will encourage lymphocytes to enter the tumour, and provide a new treatment option for patients with colorectal cancer. In mice bearing tumours comprising of colon adenocarcinoma cells, the administration of BNC105 with anti-PD-1 antibodies has led to a synergistic reduction in tumour size.