Novel Small Molecule EBNA1 Inhibitor, VK 2019, in Patients With Epstein Barr Virus (EBV)-Positive Nasopharyngeal Cancer (NPC) and Other Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-Associated Cancers, With Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Correlative Studies

Phase 2, Open-label, Clinical Trial of a Novel Small Molecule EBNA1 Inhibitor, VK 2019, in Patients With Epstein Barr Virus Positive Nasopharyngeal Cancer (NPC) and Other EBV-associated Cancers, With Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Correlative Studies

To evaluate the anti cancer effect of VK 2019 in subjects with EBV related nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) for whom there is no other standard treatment available

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Nasopharyngeal Cancer; Epstein-Barr Virus Related Carcinoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: VK-2019

Detailed Description

Primary Objective: To characterize the anti tumor effect of VK 2019 in subjects with EBV related cancer.

Secondary Objective: 1. To characterize the safety profile, survival, PK and PD in the studied subject populations 2. To explore clinical activity and safety on subjects with post transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) and EBV related lymphoma.

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

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Stanford, California, United States, 94305
      • Stanford University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1 Informed consent obtained prior to any protocol mandated study specific procedures in accordance with institutional policies.
• 2 Either loco regionally recurrent or metastatic EBV positive RECIST evaluable nasopharyngeal carcinoma not amenable to curative treatment with no accepted effective standard of care therapeutic option.

Addendum for phase 2 exploratory cohorts: subjects with PTLD or EBV lymphoma not amenable to curative treatment with no accepted effective standard of care therapeutic option.

• 3 Not eligible for other approved or standard therapies
• 4.Prior palliative radiation must have been completed at least 2 weeks prior to study Cycle 1 Day 0
• 5.Prior anti cancer systemic treatment must have been completed greater than 4 weeks prior to the first dose of VK 2019 or subjects must have recovered from all acute prior treatment related AEs
• 6.Toxicities related to prior anti cancer therapy must have returned to Grade 1 or less. Peripheral neuropathy must be Grade 2 or less. Chronic but stable toxicities Grade > 1 (eg, dysphasia, G tube dependence, etc.) are permissible.
• 7.Age ≥ 18
• 8.Absolute neutrophil count > 1500/µL (stable off any growth factor for at least 1 week of study drug administration)
• 9.Hemoglobin > 9g/dL (transfusion to achieve this level is permitted)
• 10.Platelet count > 75 x 103/ µL (transfusion to achieve this level is NOT permitted)
• 11.Serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and serum alanine transaminase (ALT) ≤ 2.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) .Total serum bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x ULN
• 12.Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 x ULN or creatinine clearance ≥ 50 mL/min as calculated per Cockcroft Gault equation
• 13.Urinary protein < 2+ by dipstick. If dipstick ≥ 2+, then a 24 hour urine collection can be done and the subject may enter only if urinary protein is < 1 g/24 hour
• 14.Sexually active subjects must agree to utilize birth control method during treatment and for 18 weeks after the last dose of VK 2019.
• 15.Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 2 or less.
• 16.Ability to understand and the willingness to personally sign the written IRB approved informed consent document.

Exclusion Criteria:

• 1.Prior therapy restrictions.
• 2.Concurrent treatment with systemic cancer directed therapy including complementary, alternative, herbal or nutritional supplement based treatments whose purpose is for anti cancer effect
• 3.Severe or active symptomatic cardiopulmonary diseases, including unstable angina, congestive heart failure, or peripheral vascular disease within 12 months prior to study drug administration; and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation or other respiratory illness requiring hospitalization within 4 weeks prior to study drug administration. Subjects with effectively treated conditions (eg, stenting for coronary artery disease) are eligible if stable for at least 4 weeks prior to study drug administration
• 4.Metastatic disease with active central nervous system (CNS) involvement, defined as parenchymal brain involvement. Subjects with cranial nerve or base of skull involvement without the above are eligible. Subjects with CNS metastases that are stable on imaging at least 1 month following focal treatment with radiation are eligible

• 5.Known history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) unless the HIV positive subjects has:

  1. A stable regimen of highly active anti retroviral therapy (HAART)
  2. No requirement for concurrent antibiotics or antifungal agents for the prevention of opportunistic infections
  3. A CD4 count above 250 cells/mcL and an undetectable HIV viral load on standard PCR based test
• 6.Serious uncontrolled medical disorder or active infection which would, in the opinion of the Investigator, impair the ability of the subject to receive protocol therapy or whose control may be jeopardized by the complications of this therapy
• 7.NPC subjects: Have received a prior organ allograft or allogeneic bone marrow transplant.
• 8.Current non prescription drug or alcohol dependence
• 9.For all female subjects: pregnancy or breastfeeding
• 10.All female subjects with reproductive potential must have a negative pregnancy test (serum or urine) prior to enrollment
• 11.Other severe acute or chronic medical or psychiatric condition or laboratory abnormality that may increase the risk associated with study participation or study drug administration, or may interfere with the interpretation of study results, or in the judgment of the investigator would make the subject inappropriate for entry into the study
• 12.Corrected QT by Fridericia's formula (QTcF) of > 470 ms average (mean) on triplicate ECG performed during screening

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: VK-2019_arm; Dose escalation and expansion up to 31 additional patients at a maximum of 1800 mg twice daily. Cycles will be defined as 28 days of treatment, subjects will receive VK 2019 until progression or dose limiting toxicity, for up to 12 cycles.	Drug: VK-2019; VK-2019 binds to EBNA1 and inhibits EBNA1 DNA binding activity. VK-2019 API is synthesized by Anthem BioSciences Pvt. Ltd and formulated into capsules by Emerson Resources Inc,

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Response rate	Response rate to VK 2019 in EBV related NPC subjects will be assessed using RECIST v 1.1 criteria. Response Evaluable Subjects: All treated subjects with measurable disease at baseline and one of the following: 1) at least one post dose tumor assessment, 2) discontinuation prior to the first efficacy assessment due to clinical disease progression or toxicity or 3) death either on treatment or within 28 days of last VK 2019 dose.	12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Progression free survival	Progression free survival (PFS) per RECIST v 1.1 from time of subject registration. Reported as the number of subjects remaining alive at the assessment timepoint, without progression.	24 months
Overall survival	Overall survival from time of subject registration. Reported as the number of subjects remaining alive at the assessment timepoint.	24 months
Area under the plasma concentration versus time curve (AUC)	Area under the plasma concentration (AUC) for VK 2019 and metabolites will be estimated using non compartmental analysis. Analysis population is defined as all enrolled subjects treated who have at least one of the PK parameters of interest. The median AUC values by cohort, with standard deviation, obtained after 2 cycles will be reported.	Day 56 (ie, Day 0 Cycle 3 after 2, (each cycle is 28 days)
Time to maximum plasma concentration (Tmax),	Time to maximum plasma concentration (Tmax) for VK 2019 and metabolites will be collected, Analysis population is defined as all enrolled subjects treated who have at least one of the PK parameters of interest. The median value of Tmax by cohort, with standard deviation, obtained after 2 cycles will be reported.	Day 56 (ie, Day 0 Cycle 3 after 2, (each cycle is 28 days)
Peak Plasma Concentration (Cmax)	Maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) will be collected. Analysis population is defined as all enrolled subjects treated who have at least one of the PK parameters of interest. The median value of Cmax by cohort, with standard deviation, obtained after 2 cycles will be reported.	Day 56 (ie, Day 0 Cycle 3 after 2, (each cycle is 28 days)
Safety profile	Measure the number of adverse events (AEs), Serious adverse events (SAEs), and Dose Limiting Toxicities (DLTs) by cohort, for up to 12 months.	12 months
Pharmacodynamic EBV DNA	Median difference from treatment to Day 56 (ie, Day 0 Cycle 3 after 2 28-day cycles) for the levels of cell free plasma EBV DNA by cohort, with standard deviation will be measured	Day 56 (ie, Day 0 Cycle 3 after,2 (each cycle is 28-day)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Stanford University
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI); National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: A. Dimitrios Colevas, Stanford Universiy

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 25, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 17, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 17, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 18, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 7, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): June 14, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): October 21, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 17, 2025
• Last Verified: October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: EBV; NPC; Epstein-Barr Virus; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; Nasopharynx cancer; VK-2019; EBNA1 inhibitor
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Stomatognathic Diseases; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Infections; Virus Diseases; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; DNA Virus Infections; Carcinoma; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Pharyngeal Neoplasms; Otorhinolaryngologic Neoplasms; Nasopharyngeal Diseases; Pharyngeal Diseases; Herpesviridae Infections; Tumor Virus Infections; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-59886; VAR0207 (Other Identifier: OnCore); 5R01CA235633 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); NCI-2022-02830 (Registry Identifier: National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Reporting Program)

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