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News ENB Therapeutics, one of the Remiges Ventures' portfolio companies, announced its clinical trial collaboration with Merck

ENB Therapeutics, one of the Remiges Ventures' portfolio companies, announced its clinical trial collaboration with Merck

02/04/2019

----------From the ENB Therapeutics' Press Release----------
ENB THERAPEUTICS ANNOUNCES CLINICAL TRIAL COLLABORATION WITH MERCK TO EVALUATE ENB-003 IN COMBINATION WITH KEYTRUDA® (PEMBROLIZUMAB) FOR ADVANCED SOLID TUMORS

New York, NY., February 4th, 2019 — ENB Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company developing innovative, endothelin-based oncologics, today announced that it has entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Merck (known as MSD outside the U.S. and Canada) to evaluate the combination of ENB-003, a first-in class endothelin B receptor (“ETBR”) inhibitor and Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), in a Phase 1/2 trial in patients with advanced solid tumors.
The open-label, dose-escalation and expansion Phase 1/2 study will enroll patients with anti-PD-1 resistant malignant melanoma, platinum-resistant ovarian or pancreatic cancer with previous treatment failure. The dose escalation phase of the trial will evaluate the safety and tolerability of various doses of ENB-003 as a monotherapy and in combination with KEYTRUDA. The dose expansion will evaluate preliminary efficacy, safety and tolerability of the selected dose of ENB-003 combined with KEYTRUDA as well as changes in immunohistochemistry and pharmacodynamic biomarkers after administration of ENB-003.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Merck, an established leader in the field of cancer immunotherapy,” said Sumayah Jamal, M.D., Ph.D., President and CSO of ENB Therapeutics. “ENB-003 has both antitumor and immune-modulatory effects and augments the efficacy of anti-PD-1 inhibition in animal models. We are optimistic about exploring the combination of ENB-003 and KEYTRUDA .”
Under the terms of the agreement, ENB Therapeutics will sponsor the ENB-003 and KEYTRUDA clinical study.
Keytruda® is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA.

About ENB Therapeutics
ENB Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of selective inhibitors of the endothelin B receptor (“ETBR”) to reverse the drug resistance that occurs in over 50% of patients treated with immunotherapy. Our lead product, ENB-003, a first-in-class, selective, small molecule inhibitor of ETBR, has been demonstrated to significantly reduce tumor growth and prolong survival in a variety of immunotherapy-resistant cancers in multiple, preclinical in-vivo studies. ENB-003 is being developed as a companion agent to unlock the full therapeutic potential of immunotherapy by restoring the ability of T-cells to infiltrate tumors, inhibit metastasis and increase survival. Over-expression of the ETBR in the tumor microenvironment of more than 40% of all cancers provides additional opportunities to expand into multiple indications across the rapidly growing immunotherapy market. In 2017, cancer immunotherapy sales are estimated to have exceeded $57 billion in annual sales.

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