Adaptimmune doses first patient in expanded trial for synovial sarcoma treatment

Adaptimmune Therapeutics, PLC announced Tuesday that the first patient has been dosed in its expanded Phase I/II trial of its affinity enhanced T-cell receptor therapeutic that targets the NY-ESO-1 cancer antigen in synovial sarcoma patients.

Based on encouraging results in the first group of 10 patients, the trial is being expanded to include an additional 20 patients in two further cohorts.

"We are encouraged by the promising data from the first cohort of patients and pleased to have commenced enrollment into the next two cohorts of this study," Adaptimmune Chief Medical Officer Rafael Amado said. "Metastatic synovial sarcoma is largely incurable, with as few as 20 percent of patients surviving for more than two years after diagnosis. In the first cohort of this trial, we saw evidence of antitumor activity resulting from treatment with our NY-ESO TCR therapeutic in a solid tumor setting. These early data provide confidence to expand the trial in these patients who currently lack proven, effective treatment options."

Synovial sarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissue and a type of solid tumor, mainly affects adolescents and young adults. Seventy-five to 80 percent of patients with synovial sarcoma don’t survive past two to three years, and there are limited treatment options for unresectable and recurrent synovial sarcoma, which is nearly always fatal.