New immunotherapeutic drug arriving in Autumn

It has been announced that the first immunotherapeutic cancer drug has been approved for veterinary use in Europe, and will launch in Autumn 2013.

The novel drug, Oncept IL-2, was unveiled by Merial R&D at a conference in Lisbon, as an innovative treatment for fibrosarcoma in cats.

A canarypox virus vector (ALVAC®) expressing Interleukin 2 (IL-2), has been selected for the treatment.

Hervé Poulet, R&D leader at Merial, explains: "It is very safe as it does not replicate and expresses IL-2 locally. It was found to be an efficacious adjunct treatment to surgery and radiotherapy."

During monocentric controlled trials of the drug, 71 cats with first occurrence fibrosarcoma were studied in three control groups.

One group received surgery and radiotherapy only, another also received low-dose IL-2 treatment, and the third received high-dose IL-2 alongside surgery and radiotherapy.

When treatment was given one day before the start of radiotherapy, it was found that the drug reduced the risk of relapse by 65 per cent compared to the control group, who received only surgery and radiotherapy.

Further, the median time for relapse rose from an average of 287 days to 730 days when the drug was administered, compared to when the drug was not used.

Presenting the results, Dr Dominique Jas of Merial R&D, said: "This study showed that the control group, that did not undergo immunotherapy, had poorer results than either treatment group – in spite of the cats receiving a total of thirty injections."

Merial's technical manager for companion animals, Catherine Pépin, added: “We’re very excited and proud to announce the forthcoming launch of a new immunotherapy, a recombinant canarypox virus expressing feline IL-2 at the site of injections."

Large image (from left):  Patrick Devauchelle, Animal Oncology Centre; Dominique Jas, Merial; Catherine Pépin, Merial; Pascal Fayard, Merial; Ana Lara, Royal Veterinary College; Hervé Poulet, Merial; Jolle Kirpensteijn, Utrecht University.