Sillajen said Thursday that it has presented partial sections of its phase 1 clinical trial for Pexa-Vec, a solid cancer treatment, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

According to Sillajen, the trial proved the safety and efficacy of Pexa-Vec on three patients with metastatic melanoma and five patients with liver metastasis colorectal cancer. The treatment also showed no severe side effects and high tolerance among patients. A high tolerance means that the side effects are so low that the patient can tolerate taking medicine.

The company also confirmed active Vaccinia virus infiltration inside the tumor tissues of patients, who underwent a single intravenous administration of Pexa-Vec before surgery.

A result of an analysis of peripheral blood sphere cells also showed an increase in the expression of CD69 (immune cell activation index) natural killer (NK) cells, antigen presenting cells (CD14 +), and T-cells (CD4 +, CD8 +).

“Such increased expression means that there is a strong activation in the immune cells,” a company official said. “The trial has proved that Pexa-Vec activates NK cells to spray granules containing immunotherapeutic agents when they interact with cancer cells.”

The study has also shown that the drug strongly promotes both innate immunity and acquired immunity, he added.

Dr. Alan Anthoney will be presenting the data since the study has been led by Transgene.

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