Celldex Therapeutics Reports Clinical Trial Collaboration With Roche

(RTTNews) - Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (CLDX) Tuesday said it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration with Roche (RHHBY) to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of varlilumab, Celldex's CD27 targeting investigational antibody, and MPDL3280A, Roche's investigational cancer immunotherapy in a Phase 1/2 study in renal cell carcinoma.

Under the terms of this agreement, Roche will provide study drug and Celldex will be responsible for conducting and funding the study, which is expected to begin in 2015.

Varlilumab and MPDL3280A are part of a new class of investigational medicines known as cancer immunotherapies. These are designed to harness the body's own immune system to fight cancer through separate yet complementary mechanisms of action that may enable the activation of T cells, restoring their ability to effectively detect and attack tumor cells.

Preclinical data suggest the combination of these two mechanisms are synergistic and may enhance anti-tumor immune response compared to either agent alone.

In Celldex's Phase 1 study of varlilumab in multiple solid tumors, promising signs of clinical activity in patients with refractory renal cell carcinoma were observed, including a durable partial response that has continued to decrease in tumor volume over time and prolonged stable disease.