Bristol-Myers Squibb to Supply Opdivo for Lung Cancer Clinical Trial

Bavarian Nordic A/S recently announced a new drug supply agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) for a lung cancer clinical study.

For a study of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), BMS will supply the company with nivolumab (Opdivo), a drug that has already received FDA approval as a second line treatment for NSCLC. The trial will include 160 patients with previously treated NSCLC.

Patients will receive a combination of CV301, Bavarian Nordic’s drug, plus Opdivo, according to a press release from Bavarian Nordic. CV301 targets CEA and MUC-1, which are tumor-associated antigens highly expressed in certain cancers.

CV301 uses an off-the-shelf, prime/boost dosing schedule that includes a modified version of vaccinia (MVA-BN) as a priming dose followed by fowlpox boosts, and encodes the TRICOM costimulatory molecules, the company noted.

Previous studies have shown that CV301 can upregulate PD-L1 through an immune response. This approach creates an opportunity for patients who may not benefit from monotherapy with a checkpoint inhibitor.

“We are extremely excited to announce this agreement between Bavarian Nordic and BMS. While we have discussed the potential benefit of combining our cancer vaccines with checkpoint inhibitors for some time, this is now within reach as we have once again been able to strike an agreement with the leading immune-oncology company in the world, this time to explore the potential synergy between our programs to benefit patients with lung cancer,” said Paul Chaplin, president and CEO of Bavarian Nordic. “We look forward to the initiation of this study later this year.”