Neoantigen-based Personalized DNA Vaccine in Patients With Newly Diagnosed, Unmethylated Glioblastoma

A Pilot Study to Assess the Safety, Feasibility, and Immunogenicity of a Neoantigen-based Personalized in Patients With Newly Diagnosed, Unmethylated Glioblastoma

This is a single institution, open-label, single arm, study assessing the safety, feasibility, and immunogenicity of a personalized neoantigen-based vaccine in subjects with newly diagnosed, unmethylated glioblastoma.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Glioblastoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: Personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine supplied by Geneos Therapeutics; Device: CELLECTRA®2000 EP Device supplied by Geneos Therapeutics; Drug: Plasmid encoded IL-12

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 9
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Missouri
    • Saint Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
      • Washington University School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Newly diagnosed histologically confirmed MGMT unmethylated glioblastoma multiforme (WHO grade IV). Patients with secondary glioblastoma, in particular those who are IDH1 or IDH2 mutant, will not be excluded. High grade gliomas with molecular features of glioblastoma will be included. MGMT methylation status must be confirmed by standard a PCR-based assay.
• Patients who had prior craniotomy with biopsy, subtotal resection, total gross resection, or re-resection will be permitted.
• Consent to genome sequencing and dbGaP-based data sharing and has provided or will provide germline (PBMC) and tumor DNA/RNA samples of adequate quality for sequencing. (Acquisition of specimens for sequencing and the sequencing itself may be done as part of routine care or another research project.)
• At least 18 years of age.
• Karnofsky performance status ≥ 60%

• Normal bone marrow and organ function as defined below:

  • Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/mcL
  • Platelets ≥ 100,000/mcL
  • Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x IULN
  • AST(SGOT)/ALT(SGPT) ≤ 3.0 x IULN
  • Creatinine ≤ IULN OR creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal
• Systemic corticosteroid therapy is permitted provided dosing is no greater than 4 mg per day (dexamethasone or equivalent) on the day of vaccine administration.
• Bevacizumab will be allowed if given for symptomatic control of vasogenic edema and to avoid high dose of corticosteroids.
• Women of childbearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control, abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation, including at least 5 months (for women of childbearing potential) and at least 7 months (for men) after last dose of study drug. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she must inform her treating physician immediately.
• Ability to understand and willingness to sign an IRB approved written informed consent document (or that of legally authorized representative, if applicable).

Exclusion Criteria:

• As this study aims to assess the immunogenicity of personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine plus plasmid encoded IL-12 as an adjuvant, no prior immunotherapy will be permitted.
• Inadequate tissue acquisition to allow for neoantigen screening.
• No candidate neoantigen identified during screening.
• A history of other malignancy ≤ 3 years previous with the exception of non-melanoma skin cancer, any in situ cancer that has been successfully resected and cured, treated superficial bladder cancer, or any early-stage solid tumor that was successfully resected without need for adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy.
• Receiving any other investigational agents within 4 weeks of beginning study treatment.
• Known allergy, or history of serious adverse reaction to, vaccines such as anaphylaxis, hives, or respiratory difficulty.
• A history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to any agents used in the study.
• 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.
• History of immunodeficiency disorder or autoimmune condition requiring active immunosuppressive therapy. This includes inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, systemic vasculitis, scleroderma, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, hemolytic anemia, immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome, sarcoidosis, or other rheumatologic disease or any other medical condition or use of medication which might make it difficult for the patient to complete the full course of treatments or to generate an immune response to vaccines.
• Presence of clinically significant increased intracranial pressure (e.g. impending herniation) or hemorrhage, uncontrolled seizures, or requirement for immediate palliative treatment.
• Pregnant and/or breastfeeding. Women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test within 7 days of first dose of vaccine.
• Presence of acute or chronic bleeding or clotting disorder that would contraindicate IM injections

• Fewer than 2 acceptable sites available for IM injection and CELLECTRA® 2000 EP considering the deltoid and anterolateral quadriceps muscles:

  • Tattoos, keloids, or hypertrophic scars located within 2 cm of intended administration site
  • Implantable-cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or pacemaker (to prevent a life-threatening arrhythmia) that is located ipsilateral to the deltoid injection site (unless deemed acceptable by a cardiologist)
  • Any metal implants or implantable medical device within the intended treatment site (i.e. electroporation area).

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: Vaccine (GNOS-PV01 + INO-9012); Standard radiation therapy will be administered per standard of care and is outside the scope of this study.; GNOS-PV01 + INO-9012 will be given on Days 1, 22, and 43 of Cycle 1 and then on Day 1 of each subsequent cycle beginning with Cycle 2.

Biological: Personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine supplied by Geneos Therapeutics; -The neoantigen DNA vaccines are also known as DNA plasmid vector expressing tumor-specific antigens.; Other Names: Vaccine; GNOS-PV01; Device: CELLECTRA®2000 EP Device supplied by Geneos Therapeutics; CELLECTRA® 2000 Device is a system indicated for use to enhance the uptake and expression of plasmid-based biologics in order to enhance vaccine efficacy.; Drug: Plasmid encoded IL-12; The INO-9012 vials will be supplied by Geneos Therapeutics; Other Names: INO-9012

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Safety and tolerability of a personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine as measured by dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs)	A DLT will be defined as any grade 3 toxicity or greater according to CTCAE v5 considered at least possibly related to study treatment. The DLT observation period begins with Cycle 1 Day 1 (date of first vaccine administration) and continues for 30 days	Up to 30 days
Feasibility of generating a personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine for patients with newly diagnosed, unmethylated GBM as measured by the ability to identify candidate tumor-specific neoantigens		4 weeks post-completion of radiotherapy (day 1 of treatment regimen)
Feasibility of generating a personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine for patients with newly diagnosed, unmethylated GBM as measured by the ability to manufacture a neoantigen-based DNA vaccine		4 weeks post-completion of radiotherapy (day 1 of treatment regimen)
Feasibility of generating a personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine for patients with newly diagnosed, unmethylated GBM as measured by the ability to administer the vaccine to a patient		4 weeks post-completion of radiotherapy (day 1 of treatment regimen)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall survival rate		12 months
Immunogenicity of a personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine as measured by the ability to generate a measurable neoantigen-specific CD8 T cell response in vaccinated patients		Week 10 post-vaccination
Immunogenicity of a personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine as measured by the number of individual neoantigens per number of neoantigens vaccinated against, with which a measurable CD8 T cell-specific response is identified		Week 10 post-vaccination
Number of high quality candidates neoantigens present in patients with newly diagnosed GBM	-High quality neoantigens will be defined as those that meet criteria for inclusion in a vaccine	Week 24 post-vaccination
Progression-free survival (PFS) rate	PFS=duration of time from start of treatment to time of progression or death, whichever occurs first.; Progression: any of the following≥ 25% increase in sum products of perpendicular diameters of enhancing lesions compared with the smallest tumor measurement obtained either at baseline or best response, on stable or increasing doses of corticosteroids*. The absolute increase in any dimension must be at least 5mm when calculating the products.Significant increase in T2/FLAIR nonenhancing lesion on stable/increasing doses of corticosteroids compared with baseline scan or best response after initiation of therapy* not caused by comorbid eventsNew measureable lesion.Clear clinical deterioration not attributable to other causes apart from the tumor (e.g. seizures, medication adverse effects, complications of therapy, cerebrovascular events, infection, and so on) or changes in corticosteroid dose.	6 months
Immunogenicity of a personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine as measured by T-cell phenotype, myeloid derived suppressor cell frequency by flow cytometry		Week 24 post-vaccination
Immunogenicity of a personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine as measured by diversity of clonality from T cell receptor sequencing		Week 24 post-vaccination
Immunogenicity of a personalized neoantigen DNA vaccine as measured by putative antigen specificity from T cell receptor sequencing		Week 24 post-vaccination

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine
• Collaborators: The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital; Geneos Therapeutics
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Tanner M Johanns, M.D., Ph.D., Washington University School of Medicine

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 14, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 13, 2022
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 8, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 10, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): July 11, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 8, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 6, 2024
• Last Verified: March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Astrocytoma; Glioma; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Glioblastoma; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Immunologic Factors; Dermatologic Agents; Keratolytic Agents; Vaccines; Coal Tar
• Other Study ID Numbers: 202003072

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: Yes
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No