Kineta’s KVA12123 Shows Promising Results in Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial for Advanced Solid Tumors

Seattle-based biotechnology company Kineta, Inc. has provided an update on its ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating KVA12123, its immuno-oncology drug targeting VISTA, in patients with advanced solid tumors. The trial has successfully cleared the first three monotherapy dose levels, with no dose limiting toxicities or cytokine related adverse events observed.

KVA12123 demonstrated a greater than dose-proportional pharmacokinetic profile, achieving over 90% VISTA receptor occupancy in the 30 mg dosing cohort. This indicates that the drug can effectively target VISTA without causing significant adverse effects. The results are considered very promising and significantly de-risk VISTA as a novel drug target.

The VISTA-101 trial enrolled 11 patients who had previously received multiple lines of therapy, including chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy. KVA12123 was well tolerated at all doses, and no evidence of cytokine release syndrome or proinflammatory cytokine induction was observed.

Kineta’s Chief Executive Officer, Shawn Iadonato, expressed satisfaction with the progress of the trial, highlighting the compelling initial safety and pharmacokinetic data for KVA12123. The company believes that KVA12123 has the potential to become an important immunotherapy option for patients with advanced solid tumors.

Moving forward, Kineta plans to escalate the monotherapy dose cohorts of KVA12123 and initiate combination studies with pembrolizumab. Initial monotherapy efficacy data is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2023 and will be presented at an upcoming medical conference.

Kineta’s KVA12123 is a promising immunotherapy that targets VISTA, a negative immune checkpoint associated with poor survival in cancer patients. Unlike other therapies targeting VISTA, KVA12123 has demonstrated strong monotherapy tumor growth inhibition in preclinical models without inducing cytokine release syndrome. This positions KVA12123 as a potential immunotherapy for various types of cancer, including non-small cell lung, colorectal, renal cell carcinoma, head and neck, and ovarian cancer.

Kineta is focused on developing next-generation immunotherapies that address the major challenges in current cancer therapy. Alongside KVA12123, the company is also developing a preclinical monoclonal antibody targeting CD27.

For more information on Kineta and its pipeline, please visit www.kinetabio.com.