Nykode changes tack after Roche exits partnership
Hit by the loss of a partnership with Roche's Genentech unit last year, Nykode Therapeutics has narrowed its R&D focus and implemented a reset with a 24-month plan to deliver on its pipeline.
The Norwegian biotech will now focus its attention on off-the-shelf head and neck cancer vaccine VB10.16 (abipapogene suvaplasmid or abi-suva), currently in a phase 2 trial as a combination therapy with MSD's immune checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab), as the "key value driver," according to chief executive Michael Engsig.
Individualised neoantigen-based cancer immunotherapy VB10.NEO will continue to be developed through to the readout of ongoing studies, but will now receive "limited investments" while partners for the programme are sought.
Nykode will boost its spending on its third major platform – designed to induce tolerance in autoimmune diseases – but a partnership with Regeneron spanning off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapies and infectious disease treatments has been stripped out of its strategy and is subject to 'discussions' over its future.
The aim is to make sure that Nykode can get antigen-presenting cell (APC) targeting DNA vaccine VB10.16, which targets HPV16-positive cancers, through to the delivery of key clinical data within the next couple of years. That objective can be reached with current cash reserves, according to the Oslo-based company.
Last November, Nykode was rocked by Genentech's surprise decision to end their $715 million cancer vaccine partnership for VB10.NEO, signed in 2020, forcing it to slash staff. At the time, Engsig said the decision was due to changing R&D priorities at Genentech and did not point to any weakness in the data emerging from the programme.
The CEO said this morning that the platform is "the most attractive unpartnered individualised neoantigen therapy," adding: "Abi-suva targets a highly attractive commercial market and, with its potential to set a new standard of care, addresses a patient population with few effective treatment options."
Nykode has already reported data from two trials of abi-suva, which backed up its safety and showed signs of increased efficacy when used in combination with Roche's PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq (atezolizumab) and Keytruda.
Now, its focus is on completing the 100-subject Abili-T study, which is comparing abi-suva/Keytruda to Keytruda alone as a first-line treatment for PD-L1-positive recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Data is expected to start emerging from the trial in 2027.
"Nykode's updated strategy is about focus, execution, and creating value for patients and the company's shareholders," said Engsig, as the biotech reported a decline in second-quarter revenues, but a swing to profitability thanks to its cost-reduction programme. It ended the period with $70 million in cash.
