First patient dosed in STORM-Coherus cancer alliance

It has begun a Phase 1b/2 study evaluating STC-15, its first-in-class lead programme, in combination with LOQTORZI (toripalimab-tpzi), an anti-PD-1 antibody, to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), melanoma and endometrial cancer.

In a further uptick, STORM has appointed Yale and Harvard-trained medic Atif Abbas as Chief Medical Officer.

The Phase 1b study will evaluate STC-15, a METTL3 inhibitor, in combination with LOQTORZI in a dose escalation study to determine the safety of the combination and recommended dose for STC-15. Also, the Phase 2 portion of the study will evaluate expansion cohorts in NSCLC, HNSCC, melanoma and endometrial cancer in up to 188 patients in the US.

Jerry McMahon, Chief Executive Officer of STORM Therapeutics, said: “We are excited that the first patient is receiving treatment on our collaborative clinical study, evaluating the potential of STC-15 to enhance responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

“Our clinical data has demonstrated that STC-15 can achieve durable responses for patients who are refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors, therefore combining it with LOQTORZI may further validate our hypothesis of treating cancer through cellular reprogramming and RNA modifications.

“We are also thrilled that Atif has joined Storm as CMO to lead this effort and to chart the development strategy for STC-15 with future studies.”