BerGenBio will deliver an e-poster presentation at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 36th Annual Meeting, including pre-clinical and clinical data suggesting that bemcentinib restored response to anti-PD-1 treatments in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients harboring STK11 mutations.
STK11 is an important tumor suppressor gene reported in some studies to confer immunotherapy resistance in NSCLC. STK11 mutations are present in about 10-20% of NSCLC patients.
In pre-clinical NSCLC mouse models harboring STK11 mutations, sensitivity to PD-1 blockade was evaluated in the absence and presence of bemcentinib. Systemic inhibition of AXL with bemcentinib resulted in the expansion of tumor-associated T cells and restored therapeutic response to anti-PD-1 check point inhibition.
In parallel, data from BerGenBio’s Phase II bemcentinib and pembrolizumab combination study (BGBC008) in advanced NSCLC showed that 3 of 3 evaluable patients with identified STK11 mutations demonstrated objective clinical response / clinical benefit to the combination of bemcentinib and pembrolizumab.
“While the data are limited, they suggest a mechanism by which treatment with bemcentinib could restore sensitivity to anti-PD-1 treatment in NSCLC patients harboring STK11 mutations. Up to 20% of the NSCLC patient population has been reported to harbor STK11 mutations representing a large subgroup of NSCLC,” says Martin Olin, Chief Executive Officer at BerGenBio.
Photo: Nils Olav Mevatne
