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Drug developer Antigenics Inc. said researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, reported positive results stemming from a study using its cancer therapy Oncophage to treat brain-cancer patients.
The Lexington-based company (Nasdaq: AGEN) said the Phase 2 study at UCSF’s Brain Tumor Research Center indicated a lengthening of median survival rates — to roughly 10 months — for patients diagnosed with recurrent high-grade glioma. Meanwhile, six of the 20 patients studied have survived longer than a year.
Survival rates for high-grade glioma patients using existing treatments range from six to nine months, the company said.
“These are encouraging results that suggest activity with Oncophage in this challenging patient population,” said Andrew T. Parsa, an associate professor in the department of neurological surgery at UCSF and the trial’s principal investigator.
The ongoing UCSF study, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, aims to enroll 50 patients. Enrolled patients have undergone surgery to remove their tumors and then receive four weekly doses of Oncophage. That schedule varies thereafter, depending on the disease’s progress.
The company said side effects have been minor to date.
Oncophage is produced at Antigenics’ production facility in Lexington.
Antigenics booked $1.9 million in revenue and a net loss of $21.9 million in the six months ended June 30.
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