Study of HRO761 Alone or in Combination in Cancer Patients With Specific DNA Alterations Called Microsatellite Instability or Mismatch Repair Deficiency.

An Open-label, Multi-center Phase I/Ib Dose Finding and Expansion Study of HRO761 as Single Agent and in Combinations in Patients With Microsatellite Instability-High or Mismatch Repair Deficient Advanced Solid Tumors.

The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of HRO761 and identify the recommended dose(s), i.e., the optimal safe and active dose of HRO761 alone or in combination with pembrolizumab or irinotecan that can be given to patients who have cancers with specific molecular alterations called MSIhi (Microsatellite Instability-high) or dMMR (Mismatch Repair Deficient) that might work best to treat these specific cancer types and to understand how well HRO761 is able to treat those cancers.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: MSIhi or dMMR Advanced Unresectable or Metastatic Solid Tumors, Including Colorectal Cancers
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: HRO761; Drug: irinotecan; Biological: pembrolizumab

Detailed Description

The new drug being tested in the study, HRO761, is an oral drug that acts on a protein called Werner (WRN), which may contribute to cancer growth. By acting on WRN, HRO761 may be able to stop the growth of the cancer.

This is the first time HRO761 is given to patients and the first time HRO761 is used in combination with pembrolizumab or irinotecan.

Pembrolizumab and irinotecan are drugs approved in several countries and used as standard treatment for certain types of cancer (e.g., colon cancer and small cell lung cancer).

This research study will consist of various treatment arms to investigate HRO761 as single agent and in the combinations.

For HRO761 single agent, the research will be done in two parts. The first part is called "dose escalation" and the second part is called "dose optimization". In the dose escalation part, different groups of people will be given different doses of HRO761 to understand how the body reacts to different doses of the drug and how well the drug acts against the cancer. During the dose optimization part, the selected doses will be tested in more patients until a recommended dose(s) is found.

The combinations of HRO761 with pembrolizumab or irinotecan also will be tested in a dose escalation part to find the recommended doses of HRO761 in these combinations.

Once the recommended doses are determined, more people may be treated with HRO761 alone or together with pembrolizumab or irinotecan to further assess the study treatment effects against various types of MSIhi or dMMR cancers. This part is called dose expansion.

For this research, a number of blood and tissue samples will be collected during the study. Patients may be asked to come approximately 8 times to the clinic during the first 8 weeks and approximately every 2 or 4 weeks thereafter.

Patients will be in the study as long as their study doctor believes that they may be benefiting from the study treatment, unless the patient decides to stop study treatment.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 123
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Brussels, Belgium, 1200
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• China
  • Beijing, China, 100036
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Guangzhou, China, 510655
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• France
  • Bordeaux, France, 33076
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Marseille, France, 13273
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Toulouse, France, 31059
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Germany
  • Essen, Germany, 45147
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Israel
  • Tel Aviv, Israel, 6423906
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Italy
  • MI
    • Milan, MI, Italy, 20162
      • Novartis Investigative Site
    • Rozzano, MI, Italy, 20089
      • Novartis Investigative Site
• Japan
  • Chiba
    • Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan, 2778577
      • Novartis Investigative Site
• Norway
  • Oslo, Norway, 0310
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Singapore
  • Singapore, Singapore, 119228
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• South Korea
  • Seoul, South Korea, 03722
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Spain
  • Barcelona, Spain, 08035
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Madrid, Spain, 28040
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Madrid, Spain, 28009
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Valencia, Spain, 46010
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Sweden
  • Stockholm, Sweden, 17176
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Taiwan
  • Taipei, Taiwan, 10002
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• United Kingdom
  • London, United Kingdom, SW3 6JJ
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Oxford, United Kingdom, OX3 7LE
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
      • University of California LA
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94115
      • UCSF
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
      • Dana Farber Cancer Institute
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10017
      • Memorial Sloan Kettering
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Columbia University Medical Ctr
  • Texas
    • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
      • Univ of TX MD Anderson Cancer Cntr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Key Inclusion criteria:

• Patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic MSIhi or MMR deficient (dMMR) solid tumors who have progressed after or are intolerant to prior standard therapy.

  • Arm A and C: Patients must have progressed on the most recent therapy for advanced disease including one prior line of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
  • Arm B: Patients should have received prior chemotherapy or targeted therapy, and patients should have received prior immune checkpoint inhibitor or should be expected to benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status ≤ 1
• Measurable disease as determined by RECIST version 1.1
• • All patients (Arm A, B and C) will have available archival tumor tissue obtained prior to study treatment initiation, to allow retrospective MSIhi/dMMR status confirmation. A newly obtained biopsy will only be collected at screening if there is no archival tumor tissue available and if safe and medically feasible according to treating institution's guidelines. Exceptions may be considered after documented discussion with Novartis.

Key Exclusion criteria:

• Impaired cardiac function or clinically significant cardiac disease
• Clinically significant eye impairment
• Patients with a primary Central Nervous System (CNS) tumor or tumor metastatic to the CNS
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection
• Active Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) or Tuberculosis infection. Patients whose disease is controlled under antiviral therapy should not be excluded.
• History of severe hypersensitivity reactions to any ingredient of study drug(s)
• Impairment of gastrointestinal function or gastrointestinal disease that may significantly alter the absorption of study drugs (e.g., severe ulcerative disease, uncontrolled nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, malabsorption syndrome, small bowel resection), except for prior gastrectomy.

Other protocol-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria may apply

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

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: A: HRO761 single agent; phase Ib (Dose finding (Escalation and Optimization) and expansion)	Drug: HRO761; Tablet
Experimental: C: HRO761 + irinotecan; phase Ib (Dose escalation and expansion)	Drug: HRO761; Tablet; Drug: irinotecan; Concentrate for solution for infusion
Experimental: B: HRO761 + pembrolizumab; phase Ib (Dose escalation and expansion)	Drug: HRO761; Tablet; Biological: pembrolizumab; Concentrate for solution for infusion

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Incidence and severity of Adverse Events (AEs) and Serious Adverse Events (SAEs)	Month 36 is assumed to be study end. Incidence and severity of AEs and SAEs by treatment group, including changes in vital signs, electrocardiograms (ECGs) and laboratory results qualifying and reported as AEs.	at month 36
Incidence of dose limiting toxicities (DLTs) of treatment (Escalation only)	A DLT is defined as an adverse event or abnormal laboratory value that is not primarily related to disease, disease progression, intercurrent illness/injury, or concomitant medications that occurs within the first 28 days of study treatment and meets a defined criteria.	at Day 28
Frequency of dose interuptions as a measure of tolerability	Month 36 is assumed to be study end Number of dose interruptions by treatment group/arm as a measure of tolerability.	at month 36
Frequency of dose discontinuations as a measure of tolerability	Month 36 is assumed to be study end Number of dose discontinuations by treatment group/arm as a measure of tolerability.	at month 36
Frequency of dose reductions as a measure of tolerability	Month 36 is assumed to be study end Number of dose reductions by treatment group/arm as a measure of tolerability.	at month 36

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall Response Rate (ORR) per RECIST v1.1	Month 36 is assumed to be study end ORR is the percentage of patients with a best overall response of Complete Response (CR) or Partial Response (PR).	at month 36
Disease Control Rate (DCR) per RECIST v1.1	Month 36 is assumed to be study end DCR is the percentage of patients with a best overall response of CR or PR or Stable Disease (SD)	at month 36
Progression Free Survival (PFS) per RECIST v1.1	Month 36 is assumed to be study end PFS is defined as the time from the date of start of treatment to the date of the first documented progression or death due to any cause.	at month 36
Duration of Response (DOR) per RECIST v1.1	Month 36 is assumed to be study end DOR is the time between the date of first documented response (CR or PR) and the date of progression or death due to any cause.	at month 36
PK parameter (Tmax) of HRO761	Cycle 12 (the duration of 1 cycle is 28 days). Time to maximum observed concentration (Tmax) determined by non-compartmental PK analysis of plasma concentration-time profiles HRO761.	at month 12
PK parameter (Cmax) of HRO761	Cycle 12 (the duration of 1 cycle is 28 days). Maximum observed concentration (Cmax) determined by non-compartmental pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis of plasma concentration-time profiles HRO761.	at month 12
PK parameter (AUC) of HRO761	Cycle 12 (the duration of 1 cycle is 28 days). Area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) determined by non-compartmental PK analysis of plasma concentration-time profiles HRO761.	at month 12
Plasma concentrations of HRO761	Plasma concentrations of HRO761 will be measured using a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay.	at Day 1, Day 8, Day 29, Day 57, Day 85, Day 113, Day 141, Day 225, and Day 309

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 27, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 5, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 19, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): May 3, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 24, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 23, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: solid tumors; irinotecan; metastatic; advanced cancer; pembrolizumab; Phase I/Ib; MSIhi (Microsatellite Instability-High); dMMR (Mismatch Repair Deficient); CRC (Colorectal cancer); HRO761
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Intestinal Diseases; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Neoplastic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Colorectal Neoplasms; Neoplasm Metastasis; Turcot syndrome; Heterocyclic Compounds; Camptothecin; Alkaloids; Irinotecan; pembrolizumab
• Other Study ID Numbers: CHRO761A12101; 2022-502314-93-00 (Registry Identifier: EU CTIS)

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