OVATION-2: A randomized phase I/II study evaluating the safety and efficacy of IMNN-001 (IL-12 gene therapy) with neo/adjuvant chemotherapy in patients newly-diagnosed with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract

Objective: OVATION-2, a randomized, controlled, open label phase 1/2 study, evaluated the safety and efficacy of IMNN-001, an IL-12 immune gene therapy, with neo/adjuvant chemotherapy (N/ACT) compared to N/ACT in newly-diagnosed advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Methods: IMNN-001 is an immunotherapeutic nanoparticle comprising a DNA plasmid encoding the IL-12 gene encased in a lipopolymer. High-grade EOC patients were randomized 1:1 to carboplatin/paclitaxel IV every 21 days for 3 cycles, before and after interval debulking surgery (IDS) or to intraperitoneal (IP) IMNN-001, given weekly concurrently with chemotherapy for 8 weeks before and 9 weeks after IDS. Results: 54 and 58 patients with predominantly Stage IIIC/IV EOC were evaluated in the control and experimental arm, respectively. Primary endpoints were safety and PFS. Overall, the experimental arm was well tolerated with gastrointestinal and cytopenias as the most common TEAEs with no CRS or elevated risk of immune events. PFS was 14.9 months (mo) for the experimental arm vs 11.9 mo; HR 0.79 (95 % CI: 0.51–1.23). Secondary endpoints included OS (46.0 mo for experimental arm vs 33.0 mo; HR 0.69 (CI: 0.40–1.19)) and surgical response R0 rate (64.6 % experimental arm vs 52.1 %). For patients who received PARPi maintenance, PFS was 33.8 mo vs 22.1 mo; HR 0.80 (CI: 0.31–2.12) and OS was NE vs 37.1 mo with a HR of 0.38 (CI: 0.13–1.06) both favoring the experimental arm. Conclusion: The addition of IMNN-001 to N/ACT shows a promising numerical 13-mo benefit on survival with an acceptable safety profile in patients with newly-diagnosed advanced EOC.