Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company IO Biotech, a developer of novel, immune modulating anti-cancer therapies based on its proprietary T-win technology, revealed on Wednesday that it has initiated the Phase 2 portion of a global, open-label, randomised clinical trial studying the investigational candidate IO102 in combination with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) for the treatment of first-line patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

IO Biotech said Phase 2 of the IO102-012/KN-764 trial follows the successful completion of the safety portion of the trial of IO102. The clinical trial is expected to accrue 96 patients across more than 20 sites in the US and Europe.

This trial is part of a collaborative agreement with Merck & Co Inc, Kenilworth NJ USA (known as MSD outside the US and Canada). IO Biotech will sponsor the clinical trial, while MSD will supply the trial with KEYTRUDA. The company added that the rights to the study results will be shared, and IO Biotech has retained global commercial rights to IO102.

The company stated that IO102 is its lead candidate and is an Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) derived immune modulating therapy with a dual mode of action - killing both cancer cells and immune-suppressive cells. IDO-derived immune modulating therapies previously demonstrated both a favourable safety profile and promising anti-tumour activity in its first human clinical trial of heavily pre-treated patients with NSCLC.