Swedish immuno-oncology company Immunicum AB (STO:IMMU) reported on Monday encouraging signs of a survival benefit in its Phase II MERECA trial evaluating its off-the-shelf cell-based cancer immunotherapy, ilixadencel, in combination with sunitinib in the first-line treatment of newly diagnosed patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

In the study, 88 patients were randomly assigned to the ilixadencel combination group or sunitinib control group, and subsequently followed for survival. The co-primary endpoint of median OS was reached at 25.3 months in the sunitinib control group, while the median OS in the ilixadencel treatment group has now been reached at 35.6 months.

"The observed difference of 10 months in median OS for the ilixadencel combination group versus the control group is substantial and clinically meaningful," commented Peter Suenaert, M.D, PhD, Immunicum's chief medical officer. "Although the randomised, controlled study was not statistically powered for the OS endpoint, the data announced today suggests that ilixadencel has the potential to become a promising treatment option for these patients by improving survival outcomes when combined with standard-of-care cancer therapies."