Immunicum has received Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the company’s lead candidate, ilixadencel, a cell-based, off-the-shelf immune primer for the treatment of metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma (mRCC).

The FDA’s decision was made based on the previously communicated results from the Phase II MERECA clinical trial that evaluated the safety and efficacy of ilixadencel in combination with Sutent (sunitinib) in patients with newly diagnosed mRCC. Advantages of the RMAT designation include all the benefits of the Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy Designation programs including guidance and early interactions with the FDA to discuss potential surrogate or intermediate endpoints to support accelerated approval as well as potential ways to satisfy post-approval requirements.

“We are very excited to have received the RMAT designation for ilixadencel in kidney cancer as it recognizes both the potential of our novel therapeutic approach as well as the clear need for viable therapies to address this difficult-to treat disease. As a designation similar to the FDA’s Breakthrough Therapy Designation, we will now also have the opportunity to receive direct guidance from the FDA which will inform key development decisions and ultimately bring us closer to delivering ilixadencel to patients in need,” says Alex Karlsson-Parra, CEO of Immunicum.

The latest results of the Phase II MERECA trial were presented in February at the ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium 2020 in Orlando, Florida. As of December 2019, the patient follow up data indicates a separation in Kaplan-Meier survival curves in favor of the ilixadencel treatment group in line with the projected separation based on the data from July 2019. The median OS value could not be calculated yet in either group as the data is not mature. The confirmed ORR for the ilixadencel treatment group was 42.2% (19/45) versus 24.0% (6/25) for the sunitinib control group.