Five Prime Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech, announced positive results from a phase 2 trial evaluating chemotherapy in combination with bemarituzumab to treat advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.
The global, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled FIGHT trial met all three primary endpoints of its study, including an improvement in progression-free survival.
Specifically, California-based Five Prime and China partner Zai Lab reported that the combination of bemarituzumab and mFOLFOX6 chemotherapy beat out placebo plus mFOLFOX6 on three efficacy endpoints – median progression-free survival, median overall survival, and overall response rate – in patients with fibroblast growth factor receptor 2b-positive, HER2-negative front-line advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.
The trial enrolled 155 patients in 15 countries across Asia, the European Union, and the United States.
Bemarituzumab (anti-FGFR2b, FPA144) is a first-in-class targeted antibody that blocks fibroblast growth factors from binding and activating FGFR2b, inhibiting several downstream pathways. Blocking FGFR2b activation is thought to slow cancer progression. If eventually approved, it could be the first potential targeted therapy for advanced gastric cancer in over a decade.
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