Ultimovacs (ULTI) Announces Publication in The Journal of Translational Medicine on Mechanistic Rationale of UV1 Cancer Vaccine Supporting Phase 2 Study Design in Malignant Mesothelioma

Ultimovacs ASA ("Ultimovacs") (OSE ULTI), a clinical stage leader in immune stimulatory vaccines for cancer, today announced that a peer-reviewed article on the ongoing NIPU Phase II trial of the Company’s universal cancer vaccine, UV1, in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has been published. The article in The Journal of Translational Medicine outlines the mechanistic rationale for the use of the combination of UV1 with two checkpoint inhibitors, ipilimumab and nivolumab.

The dual use of ipilimumab and nivolumab was recently approved as a first-line therapy in MPM where few therapeutic options are currently available. However, as Haakensen et al explain in the article, observed response rates with checkpoint inhibitors have been moderate in MPM compared to documented performance for the combination of checkpoint inhibitors in other cancers, suggesting that checkpoint inhibitors alone may be insufficient to trigger an immune response.

Earlier phase I/II studies have shown that UV1 is safe on its own and when used in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, and that it induces vaccine-specific immune response associated with survival.

“The NIPU trial is important in understanding the potentially synergistic activities of checkpoint inhibitors and our universal cancer vaccine, UV1,” stated Jens Bjørheim, Chief Medical Officer at Ultimovacs. “Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a challenging disease to treat even with checkpoint inhibitors that have been effective in other types of cancer. The article published today explains how we think UV1 may help in meeting that challenge.”

NIPU is a randomized, multi-centre, open-label, proof of concept study comparing the efficacy and safety of nivolumab and ipilimumab with or without UV1 in patients with inoperable malignant pleural mesothelioma after first-line platinum-based chemotherapy (NCT04300244).

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