Immunicum AB (STO:IMMU.ST), a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic cancer vaccines, announced on Monday that the sixth and last patient has been enrolled in the first cohort of the phase I/II clinical trial with ilixadencel for the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST).

According to the company, due to the rarity of the disease, which has caused the enrolment to be slow, Immunicum has decided not to proceed with the recruitment of the remaining six patients in the second cohort.

The company added that from the patients enrolled so far in the trial, the safety and tolerability of ilixadencel is positive and in line with results from the previous trials. It will announce the topline results in mid-2019.

Also, the data the company will gain from this trial, in particular the primary endpoints of safety and tolerability in these advanced and very sick patients, will contribute to the overall understanding and validation of ilixadencel's potential as a novel therapy for the treatment of solid tumours.

This clinical trial aims to examine whether ilixadencel in combination with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor is safe and tolerable for GIST patients. Additional clinical endpoints, such as objective response and progression-free survival, will also be evaluated.

Immunicum is establishing a unique immuno-oncology approach through the development of allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell-based therapies. The company's lead product ilixadencel, consisting of pro-inflammatory allogeneic dendritic cells, has the potential to become a backbone component of modern cancer combination treatments in a variety of solid tumour indications.