Genome & Company announced on January 18th that a poster was presented on the positive topline results from the phase 2 clinical trial (NCT05419362) in gastric cancer of its microbiome immunotherapy, GEN-001 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO GI 2024). GEN-001 is an oral therapeutic candidate consisting of a single strain of Lactococcus lactis, and the phase 2 clinical trial for gastric cancer was conducted in combination with avelumab (Bavencio®?) developed and commercialized by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. As a result of the efficacy evaluation of 42 patients participating in the phase 2 clinical trial, partial responses (PRs) were observed in 7 out of 42 patients.

Furthermore, 3 out of 8 patients among 42 patients who were previously treated by immunotherapy experienced PRs (overall response rate, ORR 37.5%). In addition, the topline results revealed the median progression free survival (PFS) at 1.7 months and the median overall survival (OS) at 7.9 months.