Adlai Nortye announces first patient dosed in Phase II trial of palupiprant

Adlai Nortye announced that the first patient was dosed in the Phase II clinical trial known as ARTEMIS. This clinical study evaluates palupiprant, a small molecule prostaglandin E receptor 4 antagonist, with chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy for the treatment of rectal cancer. The study has been developed and is being led by the Cancer Research Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Leeds, with clinical leadership teams from consultant oncologists Prof Simon Gollins and Prof Mark Saunders. Building upon the encouraging Phase Ib results of the immune modulator AN0025 in combination with chemoradiation in rectal cancer, ARTEMIS is a randomized, Phase II, multi-center, open-label study that compares TNT with or without AN0025 in patients with moderate to high-risk rectal cancer. One hundred and forty patients will receive either long-course chemoradiation or short-course radiotherap followed by chemotherapy, or a combination of AN0025 and LCCRT/SCRT followed by chemotherapy. The primary endpoint of this study is clinical complete response rate at six months post the start of radiotherapy.