Clinical Trial Evaluating the Safety, Tolerability and Preliminary Efficacy of BNT116 Alone and in Combinations in Patients With Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (LuCa-MERIT-1)

LuCa-MERIT-1: First-in-human, Open Label, Phase I Dose Confirmation Trial Evaluating the Safety, Tolerability and Preliminary Efficacy of BNT116 Alone and in Combinations in Patients With Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

This First-in-human (FIH) trial for BNT116 aims to establish the safety profile and a safe dose for BNT116 monotherapy as well as for BNT116 in combination with cemiplimab or docetaxel in patients with advanced or metastasized non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and unresectable NSCLC after chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Furthermore, the trial aims to establish the safety and feasibility of BNT116 in combination with cemiplimab and chemotherapy (carboplatin+paclitaxel) as neo-adjuvant treatment in resectable NSCLC followed by surgery and adjuvant BNT116 + cemiplimab. The trial will comprise several cohorts for dose confirmation in monotherapy as well as in combinations of BNT116 as mentioned above.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Paclitaxel; Drug: Docetaxel; Biological: BNT116; Biological: Cemiplimab; Drug: Carboplatin

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 130
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: BioNTech clinical trials patient information; Phone Number: +49 6131 9084; Email: patients@biontech.de

Study Locations

• Germany
  • Frankfurt, Germany, 60488
    • Recruiting
    • Krankenhaus Nordwest GmbH - Institut Fuer Klinisch-Onkologische Forschung (IKF)
  • Hamburg, Germany, 20246
    • Recruiting
    • University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
  • Köln, Germany, 50937
    • Recruiting
    • Universitätsklinikum Köln
  • Mainz, Germany, 55131
    • Recruiting
    • Universitaetsmedizin der Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz KoeR
• Hungary
  • Budapest, Hungary, 1122
    • Recruiting
    • National Institute of Oncology
  • Budapest, Hungary, 1077
    • Recruiting
    • ICON-PRA Budapest, Fázis 1 Vizsgálóhely
  • Budapest, Hungary, 1083
    • Recruiting
    • Semmelweis Egyetem ÁOK Belgyógyászati és Onkológiai Klinika
  • Gyongyos, Hungary, 3200
    • Recruiting
    • Clinexpert Ltd
• Poland
  • Gdańsk, Poland, 80-214
    • Recruiting
    • Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne
  • Olsztyn, Poland, 10-357
    • Recruiting
    • Warminsko Mazurskie Centrum Chorob Pluc w Olsztynie
  • Poznań, Poland, 60-693
    • Recruiting
    • NZOZ Medpolonia Sp. Z o.o
  • Warsaw, Poland, 02-781
    • Recruiting
    • Narodowy Instytut Onkologii im. Marii Sklodowskiej-Curie Panstwowy Instytut Badawczy
• Spain
  • Badalona, Spain, 08916
    • Recruiting
    • Institut Catala d'Oncologia Badalona, Hospital Germans Trias I Pujol
  • Barcelona, Spain, 08035
    • Recruiting
    • Hospital Universitario Vall d'Hebron
  • Madrid, Spain, 28033
    • Recruiting
    • MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • Madrid, Spain, 28040
    • Recruiting
    • Hospital Universitario Fundacion Jiménez Díaz
  • Madrid, Spain, 28050
    • Recruiting
    • START Madrid - CIOCC. Grupo Hospital de Madrid (HM) - Centro Integral Oncologico Clara Campal (CIOCC)
  • Santiago De Compostela, Spain, 15706
    • Recruiting
    • Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela (CHUS) - Hospital Clinico Universitario (University Clinical Hospital)
  • Sevilla, Spain, 41009
    • Recruiting
    • Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena
  • Valencia, Spain, 46026
    • Recruiting
    • Hospital Universitario Y Politécnico La Fe
• Turkey
  • Ankara, Turkey, 06800
    • Recruiting
    • Ankara City Hospital
  • Ankara, Turkey, 06200
    • Recruiting
    • Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Oncology Training and Research Hospital
  • Istanbul, Turkey, 34718
    • Recruiting
    • Yeditepe University
  • Izmir, Turkey, 35100
    • Recruiting
    • Ege University School of Medicine Tulay Aktas Oncology Hospital
  • İzmir, Turkey, 35340
    • Recruiting
    • Dokuz Eylul Medical School
• United Kingdom
  • Cambridge, United Kingdom, CB2 0QQ
    • Not yet recruiting
    • Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Cardiff, United Kingdom, CF14 2TL
    • Not yet recruiting
    • Velindre NHS Trust
  • Liverpool, United Kingdom, L7 8YA
    • Not yet recruiting
    • The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust
  • London, United Kingdom, W1T 7HA
    • Recruiting
    • University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • London, United Kingdom, SE1 9RT
    • Not yet recruiting
    • Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
  • Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, NE7 7DN
    • Not yet recruiting
    • The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• United States
  • Kentucky
    • Louisville, Kentucky, United States, 40202
      • Recruiting
      • Norton Cancer Institute
  • Maryland
    • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21287
      • Recruiting
      • Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Virginia
    • Fairfax, Virginia, United States, 22031
      • Recruiting
      • NEXT Virginia

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Key Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients must have histologically confirmed NSCLC and measurable disease by RECIST v1.1. Note: Patients in Cohort 1 and Cohort 5 do not have to present with measurable disease.

  1. Patients in Cohorts 1 to 4 must present with unresectable Stage III or metastatic Stage IV NSCLC by American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) Cancer Staging Manual, Eighth Edition.
  2. Patients in Cohort 5 must present with unresectable Stage III NSCLC by AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, Eighth Edition before receiving pre-trial chemoradiotherapy.
  3. Patients in Cohort 6 with the initial diagnosis of resectable Stage II and Stage III NSCLC by AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, Eighth Edition.
• Patients in Cohorts 2, 4, 5, and 6 must be able to tolerate (additional) anti-PD-1 therapy (i.e., did not permanently discontinue anti-programmed death protein 1 [PD-1] / programmed death ligand 1 [PD-L1] therapy due to toxicity).
• Patients in Cohorts 2, 3, and 6 must have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG-PS) ≤1. Patients in Cohort 1, 4, and 5 with an ECOG-PS of 0-2 are eligible.

Cohort-specific inclusion criteria:

Cohort 1:

• Patients' prior therapy must have included at least a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor and a platinum-based chemotherapy regimen as well as one other line of systemic therapy (except if a patient is not candidate for a platinum-based chemotherapy and/or PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor and/or another line of systemic therapy).

  • Note: Patients newly enrolled in Cohort 1B under clinical trial protocol v4.0 and subsequent versions of the clinical trial protocol must consent to mandatory blood sampling for peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).
• Patients who are to start cemiplimab at Cycle 3 must present with PD-L1 expression of tumor proportion score (TPS) ≥1% in tumor cells (as determined locally).

Cohort 2:

• Patients must present with PD-L1 expression of tumor proportion score (TPS) ≥50% in tumor cells (as determined locally prior to inclusion in this trial).

• Patients must present with progressive disease either

  1. in the advanced or metastasized stage of NSCLC: while on a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor therapy or within 6 months of termination of this treatment as first-line treatment. Or
  2. be refractory to ongoing adjuvant therapy with a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor that has been given for at least 3 months in monotherapy (i.e., after an initial combination therapy) before being enrolled into this trial.

Cohort 3:

• Patients' prior therapy must have included at least a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor and a platinum-based chemotherapy regimen (except if a patient is not candidate for a platinum-based chemotherapy and/or PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor).
• Patients must present with progressive disease.

Cohort 4:

• Patients' who are not candidates for chemotherapy as first-line treatment for the advanced or metastasized stage of NSCLC may be enrolled if presenting with PD-L1 expression: TPS ≥1% in tumor cells (as determined locally).

Cohort 5:

• Patients' NSCLC must have been considered unresectable due to patients' condition and/or tumor-related factors and the patients must have undergone chemoradiotherapy before entering the trial.

Cohort 6:

• Patients' NSCLC must be considered technically and medically resectable.
• Patients must be considered eligible for neo-adjuvant treatment.

Key Exclusion Criteria:

• Ongoing active systemic treatment against NSCLC.
• Presence of a driver mutation for which approved target therapies are available except if the patient is not a candidate for the respective targeted therapy.
• Ongoing or recent evidence (within the last 5 years) of significant autoimmune disease that required treatment with systemic immunosuppressive treatments which may suggest risk for immune-related adverse events. Note: Patients with autoimmune-related hyperthyroidism, autoimmune-related hypothyroidism who are in remission, or on a stable dose of thyroid-replacement hormone, vitiligo, or psoriasis may be included.
• Current evidence of new or growing brain or spinal metastases during screening. Patients with leptomeningeal disease are excluded. Patients with known brain or spinal metastases may be eligible in Cohorts 1 to 4 if they:
• had radiotherapy or another appropriate therapy for the brain or spinal bone metastases, AND
• have no neurological symptoms that can be attributed to the current brain lesions, AND
• have stable brain or spinal disease on the computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan within 4 weeks before signing the informed consent (confirmed by stable lesions on two scans at least 4 weeks apart), AND
• do not require steroid therapy for the treatment of brain or spinal metastases within 14 d before the first dose of trial treatment. Note: Spinal bone metastases (i.e., of the vertebrae) are allowed, unless imminent fracture or cord compression is anticipated.
• Systemic immune suppression:

• Current use of chronic systemic steroid medication (≤5 mg/day prednisolone equivalent is allowed); patients using physiological replacement doses of prednisone for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency are eligible.

  • Note: Steroid medication given for supportive or prophylactic reasons during CRT for patients in Cohort 5 needs to be tapered to ≤5 mg/day prednisolone equivalent at latest on the day before the trial treatment starts.
• Other clinically relevant systemic immune suppression within the last 3 months before trial enrollment.
• Known history of seropositivity for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with CD4+ T-cell (CD4+) counts <350 cells/µL and with a history of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining opportunistic infections.
• Prior splenectomy.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

7

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cohort 3 - BNT116 + docetaxel	Drug: Docetaxel; intravenous infusion; Biological: BNT116; intravenous injection
Experimental: Cohort 2 - BNT116 + cemiplimab (PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor refractory/relapsed patients)	Biological: BNT116; intravenous injection; Biological: Cemiplimab; intravenous infusion
Experimental: Cohort 4 - BNT116 + cemiplimab (frail patients)	Biological: BNT116; intravenous injection; Biological: Cemiplimab; intravenous infusion
Experimental: Cohort 1A - BNT116 monotherapy	Biological: BNT116; intravenous injection
Experimental: Cohort 1B - BNT116 monotherapy	Biological: BNT116; intravenous injection
Experimental: Cohort 5 - BNT116 + cemiplimab (after concurrent chemoradiotherapy [CRT])	Biological: BNT116; intravenous injection; Biological: Cemiplimab; intravenous infusion
Experimental: Cohort 6 - BNT116 + cemiplimab + carboplatin + paclitaxel; BNT116 + cemiplimab + carboplatin + paclitaxel as neo-adjuvant treatment followed by surgery, thereafter adjuvant treatment with BNT116 + cemiplimab	Drug: Paclitaxel; intravenous infusion; Biological: BNT116; intravenous injection; Biological: Cemiplimab; intravenous infusion; Drug: Carboplatin; intravenous infusion

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Cohorts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6: Occurrence of dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) during Cycle 1	assessed during the first cycle (21 days)
Cohorts 1 to 6: Occurrence of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) reported by relationship, seriousness, and grade according to National Cancer Institute-Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI-CTCAE) v5.0	up to 27 months
Cohort 6 only: Occurrence of post-surgical adverse events (AEs) related to BNT116 and cemiplimab	up to 27 months
Cohort 6 only: Occurrence of treatment-related delays to surgery more than 9 weeks post the last dose of neo-adjuvant treatment	up to 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cohorts 1 to 4: Overall response rate (ORR) defined as the number of patients with complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) as best overall response (BOR)	according to response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) v1.1 divided by the number of patients in the efficacy analysis set	up to 27 months
Cohorts 1 to 4: Duration of response (DoR) defined as the time from initial response until first objective tumor progression according to RECIST v1.1		up to 27 months
Cohorts 1 to 4: Disease control rate (DCR) defined as the number of patients with CR or PR or stable disease (SD) as BOR according to RECIST v1.1 divided by the number of patients in the efficacy analysis set		up to 27 months
Cohorts 1 to 4: Duration of disease control defined as the time from initial detection of stable disease or response until first objective tumor progression according to RECIST v1.1		up to 27 months
Cohorts 1 to 4: Progression-free survival (PFS) defined as the time of first trial treatment until the first objective tumor progression according to RECIST v1.1 or death from any cause, whichever occurs first		up to 48 months
All cohorts: Overall survival (OS) defined as the time of first trial treatment until death from any cause		up to 48 months
Cohort 5 and 6: Event free survival (EFS) defined as the length of time from first trial treatment to any of the following events: progression of disease, recurrence of disease or death from any cause, whichever occurs first.		up to 48 months
Cohort 5 and 6: EFS rate at 12 and 24 months defined as the number of patients without an EFS-defining event divided by the number of patients in the efficacy analysis set.		up to 24 months
Cohort 6: Rate of pathologic responses defined as the number of patients with major or complete pathologic response in the surgical specimen from surgery after neo-adjuvant trial treatment divided by the number of patients in the efficacy analysis set.		At time of surgery (approximately after 3 months treatment)
Cohort 6: ORR at the end of neo-adjuvant treatment (using RECIST v1.1).		Up to 3 months
Cohort 6: Rate of progressive disease at the end of neo-adjuvant treatment (using RECIST v1.1).		Up to 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: BioNTech SE
• Investigators: Study Director: BioNTech Responsible Person, BioNTech SE

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 17, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 24, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 24, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): December 2, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 16, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 15, 2024
• Last Verified: April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer; Cancer Vaccine
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Respiratory Tract Diseases; Neoplasms; Lung Diseases; Neoplasms by Site; Respiratory Tract Neoplasms; Thoracic Neoplasms; Carcinoma, Bronchogenic; Bronchial Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Antineoplastic Agents; Tubulin Modulators; Antimitotic Agents; Mitosis Modulators; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Docetaxel; Carboplatin; Paclitaxel; Cemiplimab
• Other Study ID Numbers: BNT116-01; 2021-004739-94 (EudraCT Number)

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