A Phase II Study of BVD-523 in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma

This research study is studying a targeted therapy called BVD-523 as a possible treatment for advanced uveal melanoma.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Uveal Melanoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: BVD-523

Detailed Description

This research study is a Phase II clinical trial. Phase II clinical trials test the safety and effectiveness of an investigational drug to learn whether the drug works in treating a specific disease. "Investigational" means that the drug is being studied.

The FDA (the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) has not approved BVD-523 as a treatment for any disease.

BVD-523 has been tested in patients with solid tumors to determine the highest dose of BVD-523 that can be safely given to patients.

In this research study, the investigators are evaluating the role of BVD-523 in the treatment of patients with uveal melanoma. Genetic changes within metastatic uveal melanoma activate proteins in the MAPK protein signaling pathway which leads to tumor growth. In the laboratory BVD-523 works against one of these proteins called ERK to decrease tumor growth. In this study, the investigators are testing BVD-523 to see if it works to treat metastatic uveal melanoma.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 13
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
      • Dana Farber Cancer Institute
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02214
      • Massachusetts General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants must have histologically or cytologically confirmed stage IV uveal melanoma
• Participants must have measurable disease, defined as at least one lesion that can be accurately measured in at least one dimension (longest diameter to be recorded for non-nodal lesions and short axis for nodal lesions) as ≥20 mm with conventional techniques or as ≥10 mm with spiral CT scan, MRI, or calipers by clinical exam. See Section 11 for the evaluation of measurable disease.
• Patients can have received any number of prior therapies for treatment of their uveal melanoma excluding prior treatment with an ERK inhibitor. Patients who have received prior MEK inhibition or other MAPK targeted agents will be allowed on study.
• Age ≥ 18 years of age.
• ECOG performance status ≤2 (Karnofsky ≥60%, see Appendix A)
• Life expectancy of greater than 6 months

• Participants must have normal organ and marrow function as defined below:

  • leukocytes ≥3,000/mcL
  • hemoglobin ≥9.0 g/dL
  • absolute neutrophil count ≥1,500/mcL
  • platelets ≥100,000/mcL
  • total bilirubin ≤1.5 × institutional upper limit of normal AST(SGOT)/ALT(SGPT) ≤2.5 × institutional upper limit of normal, unless there is known liver involvement in which case ≤5.0 × institutional upper limit of normal
  • creatinine within normal institutional limits OR
  • creatinine clearance ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2 for participants with creatinine levels above institutional normal.
• Participants must have adequate cardiac function, e.g. left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of >50% as assessed by multi-gated acquisition (MUGA) or ultrasound/echocardiography (ECHO); corrected QT interval (QTc) <470ms.
• Presence of metastatic disease that would be amenable to the required biopsies. Ideally pre and post biopsies should be from the same lesion and otherwise from lesions in the same organ. If not possible, then biopsy of the lesions in different organs will be permitted.
• The effects of BVD-523 on the developing human fetus are unknown. For this reason and because ERK inhibitors could potentially be teratogenic, women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry, for the duration of study participation, and 4 months after completion of BVD-523 administration. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately. Men treated or enrolled on this protocol must also agree to use adequate contraception prior to the study, for the duration of study participation, and 4 months after completion of BVD-523 administration.
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C), small molecule targeted therapy (i.e. - kinase inhibitors) within 3 weeks or the last dose of antibody therapy within 4 weeks prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier.
• Participants who are receiving any other investigational agents.
• Major surgery within 4 weeks of the first dose of BVD-523. Tumor embolization procedure or ablation procedure within 2 weeks of first dose of BVD-523.
• Participants with known brain metastases or evidence of leptomeningeal involvement are eligible only if these lesions are treated and both clinically and radiographically stable for at least four weeks. Patients are eligible if they are being treated with a stable dosage of steroids/anticonvulsants, requiring no dose increase for 4 weeks.
• History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to BVD-523.
• Participants receiving any medications or substances that are known to be strong inhibitors of CYP1A2, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4 or strong inducers of CYP3A4 are ineligible. Because the lists of these agents are constantly changing, it is important to regularly consult a frequently-updated list such as http://medicine.iupui.edu/clinpharm/ddis/table.aspx; medical reference texts such as the Physicians' Desk Reference may also provide this information. As part of the enrollment/informed consent procedures, the patient will be counseled on the risk of interactions with other agents, and what to do if new medications need to be prescribed or if the patient is considering a new over-the-counter medicine or herbal product.
• Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
• Pregnant women are excluded from this study because BVD-523 is an ERK with the potential for teratogenic or abortifacient effects. Because there is an unknown but potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants secondary to treatment of the mother with BVD-523 breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with BVD-523.
• Gastrointestinal (GI) condition which could impair absorption of study medication or inability to ingest study medication.
• A history of current evidence/risk of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) or central serous retinopathy (CSR)
• Concomitant malignancies or previous malignancies with less than 2 years of disease-free interval at the time of enrollment (except non-melanoma skin cancer, cervical cancer in situ, prostate cancer with undetectable PSA). Other concurrent malignancies must be discussed with the medical monitor prior to enrollment.
• Patients with melanoma of cutaneous, mucosal or acral-lentiginous origin or of unknown primary.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: BVD-523; BVD-523 is administered at the RP2D of 600mgs taken twice daily orally for 28 consecutive days (1 cycle). Planned does may modified based on toxicity.	Drug: BVD-523; ERK1 and ERK2 inhibitor; Other Names: Ulixertinib

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall Response Rate	Overall Response Rate (ORR) was defined as the proportion of participants achieving complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) based on RECIST 1.1 criteria on treatment. Per RECIST 1.1 for target lesions: CR is complete disappearance of all target lesions and PR is at least a 30% decrease in the sum of longest diameter (LD) of target lesions, taking as reference baseline sum LD. PR or better overall response assumes at a minimum incomplete response/stable disease (SD) for the evaluation of non-target lesions and absence of new lesions.	up to 52 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Disease Control Rate	A combination of patients who experience complete response, partial response and stable disease on CT or other form of imaging	up to 52 weeks
Median Overall Survival	OS based on the Kaplan-Meier method is defined as the time from study entry to death or censored at date last known alive.	Participant survival information will be collected every 4 weeks from the date of last dose of study drug until the participant's death or until the participant is lost to follow-up, or until study closure. Median follow-up was 6 months.
Median Time to Tumor Progression	Time from enrollment on study until the tumor is progressing by RECIST v1.0 as a 20% increase in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions, or a measurable increase in a non-target lesion, or the appearance of new lesions	Between the dates of the start of trial treatment and first documentation of progressive disease. In the absence of documented progressive disease, follow-up will be censored at date of last disease assessment. up to 52 weeks
To Better Understand the Genetic Variability of Uveal Melanoma Through Whole Exome Sequencing	DNA sequencing will occur in tissue samples from patients treated on study to gain a better understanding of the genetic variability observed in uveal melanoma	Tumor biopsies are obtained 7-28 days prior to the first treatment and 12-16 days following the initial treatment in order to facilitate ERK signaling analysis, mutation analysis, sequencing, and cell line development.
Change in Expression Levels of Dual Specificity Phosphatase 6	DUSP6 expression was measured using the NanoString nCounter platform. Raw RCC files were processed with the processNanostringData() function, including background correction with negative control probes (p < 0.01) and normalization to positive control probes and housekeeping genes. Resulting data represent background-corrected, normalized counts on a linear scale. Higher DUSP6 expression indicates greater transcript abundance and MAPK pathway feedback activity, while lower expression reflects reduced levels. With ERK inhibition, DUSP6 would be expected to decrease. Change was calculated as the value at pre-treatment minus the value on treatment.	Expression levels were compared between pre-treatment and on-treatment (12-16 days) timepoints。

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Collaborators: BioMed Valley Discoveries, Inc
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Buchbinder, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 26, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 5, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): July 16, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 25, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 25, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): January 31, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 25, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 21, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Uveal Melanoma
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Eye Diseases; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Neuroendocrine Tumors; Nevi and Melanomas; Eye Neoplasms; Uveal Diseases; Melanoma; Uveal Neoplasms; Uveal Melanoma; ulixertinib
• Other Study ID Numbers: 17-526

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No