Imugene Limited announced that its Phase 1 clinical trial of CD19 oncolytic virotherapy drug candidate onCARlytics (on-CAR-19, CF33-CD19 HOV4) has cleared its first cohort within the intratumoral monotherapy arm of the study and is therefore ready to commence combination dosing solid tumour patients with CD19 targeting drug blinatumomab (Blincyto marketed by Amgen). Known as OASIS, the first-in-class clinical trial is targeting adult patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumours, and aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of two routes of administration, intratumoral (IT) injection and intravenous (IV) infusion, either alone, or in combination with blinatumomab. The combination arm of the study will see onCARlytics combined with CD19 targeting bispecific monoclonal antibody blinatumomab (marketed as Blincyto by Amgen which currently is specifically approved only for liquid blood cancers).

onCARlytics has the potential to target and eradicate solid tumours that otherwise cannot be treated with Blincyto therapy alone and will represent a paradigm shift in solid tumour treatment. OASIS is a dose escalation trial that will be conducted across multiple sites across the United States, with 52 patients proposed to take part in the trial. onCARlytics is a CD19-expressing oncolytic virus that enters tumour cells and forces them to express the CD19 protein on the cell surface, presenting a target for CD19 targeting therapies.