What's Happening?
Agenus Inc. announced positive clinical results from its Phase 1b trial of botensilimab plus balstilimab (BOT+BAL) in treatment-refractory ovarian cancer, published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.
The combination therapy demonstrated a 23% overall response rate and a 31% clinical benefit rate, with a median overall survival of 14.8 months. These findings suggest BOT+BAL's potential to generate meaningful immune responses in cancers traditionally resistant to immunotherapy.
Why It's Important?
The results from the BOT+BAL trial offer hope for patients with treatment-refractory ovarian cancer, a group with limited therapeutic options. The combination's ability to elicit durable responses in a heavily pretreated population highlights its potential as a new treatment paradigm. This development reinforces the importance of innovative immunotherapy approaches in addressing high unmet needs in oncology.
What's Next?
Agenus plans to advance BOT+BAL into larger, randomized studies to further evaluate its efficacy and safety across multiple tumor types. The company will also explore regulatory pathways to expedite patient access to this promising therapy. Ongoing clinical trials and real-world data will be critical in establishing BOT+BAL as a viable treatment option for refractory cancers.
