Safety, Efficacy, and Immune Correlates of Alternative Doses and Schedules of Entinostat Combined With Pembrolizumab in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors Results From SNDX-275-0141 Phase I Trial Anthony Tolcher 1,7, Michael L. Meyers 2, Dmitry Gabrilovich 3, Fang Wang 3, Jane Trepel 4, Min-Jung Lee 4, Emmett Schmitt 5, Christine Quaranto 6, Serap Sankoh 6, David Tamang 6, Peter Ordentlich 6 1 START, San Antonio, TX, 2 Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., New York, NY, 3 The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, 4 National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 5 Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, 6 Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Waltham, MA, 7 Current Affiliation: NEXT Oncology, San Antonio TX
Disclosure Information: AACR Annual Meeting 2018 Anthony W. Tolcher MD, FRCPC, FACP I have the following financial relationships to disclose: Grant/Research support from Syndax for the conduct of this study Employee of: Past Employment at START, now NEXT Oncology I will discuss the following off label use and/or investigational use in my presentation: Combination of entinostat and pembrolizumab 2
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors & Entinostat Target Complementary Immunosuppression Mechanisms in the Tumor Microenvironment Entinostat oral, class I selective histone deacetylase inhibitor Has demonstrated potent immunomodulatory activity by inhibition of myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) function 1 Encouraging preliminary data of the combination of entinostat plus pembrolizumab in PD-1 pretreated patients have been reported: Melanoma: 4 of 13 responders (31% ORR) 2 NSCLC: 3 of 31 responders (10% ORR) 3 1. Orillion A, et al. Clin Cancer Res. 2017;23(17):5187-5201. 2. Johnson M, et al. SITC, 2017. 3. Gandhi L, et al. SITC, 2017. 3
Overview of Study 0141 Design and Schedule of Blood Samples Alternative doses were hypothesis generating Part 1 Double Blind Part 2 Patients with advanced solid tumors R A N D O M I Z E Entinostat 15mg Single dose (N=15) Placebo Single dose (N=15) 2 Wks R A N D O M I Z E ARM A Entinostat 1mg daily (Days 1-5 every 7 days) + pembrolizumab 200 mg Q3W (N=10) ARM B Entinostat 5 mg weekly* + pembrolizumab 200 mg Q3W (N=10) ARM C Entinostat 10 mg QoW + pembrolizumab 200 mg Q3W (N=10) Timepoints for blood sampling Day 14 Predose Predose Day 15 Objectives Cardiac safety, PK, safety/tolerability (ECG/ 24 hour Holter monitor) Immune correlatives Objectives Safety/tolerability, PK, efficacy Impact on immune correlatives * 5 mg weekly is the dose being used in all ongoing Phase 2 PD-1 combination trials as well as E2112. 4
Baseline Demographics of Treatment Arms Are Similar Arm A 1 mg Days 1-5 every 7 (N=8) Arm B 5 mg weekly (N=9) Arm C 10 mg QoW (N=9) Total (N=26) Age (years), median (range) 59.5 (22-68) 56.0 (44-75) 65.0 (41-70) 60.5 (22-75) Sex, n (%) Male 2 ( 25.0) 2 ( 22.2) 3 ( 33.3) 7 ( 26.9) Female 6 ( 75.0) 7 ( 77.8) 6 ( 66.7) 19 ( 73.1) ECOG Performance Status, n (%) 0 2 ( 25.0) 3 ( 33.3) 3 ( 33.3) 8 ( 30.8) 1 6 ( 75.0) 6 ( 66.7) 6 ( 66.7) 18 ( 69.2) Tumor Type, n (%) (all HR+) 4 ( 50.0) 4 ( 44.4) 3 ( 33.3) 11 ( 42.3) Prostate 0 ( 0.0) 2 ( 22.2) 2 ( 22.2) 4 ( 15.4) Ovarian 1 ( 12.5) 0 ( 0.0) 1 ( 11.1) 2 ( 7.7) Other 3 ( 37.5) 3 (33.3) 3 ( 33.3) 9 ( 34.6) 5
Principal Biomarker Correlates Hypothesis: Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells Mediate Resistance to PD1 axis targeting Determine the effect on MDSC population in blood after exposure to entinostat or placebo in the lead-in portion of the study Determine the effect of MDSC population in blood after exposure to continuous entinostat amongst three administration schedules 6
Immune (MDSC) Biomarkers Were Analyzed at Four Timepoints Sample (before dosing) Sample Sample (before dosing) Sample Day 1 Day 14 Day 1 Day 15 Randomize: 15 mg entinostat Placebo Randomize: Arm A 1 mg entinostat, Days 1-5 every 7 days Arm B 5 mg entinostat weekly Arm C 10 mg entinostat every other week All arms receive pembrolizumab 200 mg Q3W 7
Lead-in Shows MDSCs Are Significantly Lowered by Entinostat Treatment Compared to Placebo MDSC MDSC Change, % (Post-dose Pre-dose) 60 30 0-30 Lin - /CD14 + /HLA-DR low/neg p = 0.0039* After a single entinostat dose, MDSC cell frequency was significantly decreased in patients who received entinostat compared to placebo No statistical difference was observed in frequency of NK, T cell, or B cell populations in patients receiving entinostat relative to the placebo control -60 Placebo Entinostat * Unpaired t-test. 8
Lead-in Shows MDSCs Are Significantly Lowered by Entinostat Treatment Compared to Placebo Entinostat Placebo 30 30 MDSC (% Cells) 20 10 MDSC (% Cells) 20 10 0 Pre-dose p = 0.0069** Post-dose 0 Pre-dose p = 0.636** Post-dose ** Paired t-test. 9
In Part 2, Continuous Dosing Maintains Observed Decrease in MDSCs (141) C1D15 Placebo Primed Entinostat Primed 60 60 MDSC Change, % (Post-dose Pre-dose) 30 0-30 MDSC Change, % (Post-dose Pre-dose) 30 0-30 -60 1 mg 5 mg 10 mg -60 1 mg 5 mg 10 mg Dose Group Dose Group Entinostat Dosing Arms: Arm A: 1 mg Days 1-5 every 7 days Arm B: 5 mg once weekly Arm C: 10 mg once every other week 10
Entinostat Pharmacokinetics Contribute to Durable Exposure 800 C max 20000 AUC (Cycle 1) 1 mg 5 mg 10 mg 15 mg C max ng/ml 9 52 118 253 AUC (cycle1) ng*hr/ml 1040 1366 2432 6359 ng/ml 600 400 200 0 1 mg 5 mg 10 mg 15 mg Dose Arms ng*hr/ml 15000 10000 5000 0 1 mg 5 mg 10 mg 15 mg Dose Arms Time (hrs) Entinostat exposure during the first cycle of treatment increases in a dose dependent manner over the first cycle of treatment by both C max and AUC Peak exposure generally occurs within 1 hour of dosing, with a residual exposure tail persisting up to 15 days. Entinostat C p (ng/ml) 1000 100 10 1 0.1 Entinostat PK 15 mg (-0140) 10 mg (-0141) 5 mg (-0141) 1 mg (-0141) 11
A Similar Safety Profile Is Observed As Previously Reported 1,2 Grade 3/4 Related Adverse Events Subjects With At Least One Grade >= 3 Related Treatment-Emergent Adverse Event Total (N=26) 10 (38.5) Neutrophil count decreased 5 ( 19.2) White blood cell count decreased 3 ( 11.5) Lymphocyte count decreased 2 ( 7.7) No notable differences in the safety profile were observed among the 3 arms The overall safety profile observed in this study was consistent with previously reported experience of entinostat combined with pembrolizumab 1,2 Anemia 1 ( 3.8) Arthralgia 1 ( 3.8) Colitis 1 ( 3.8) Hyperglycemia 1 ( 3.8) Neutropenia 1 ( 3.8) Vomiting 1 ( 3.8) 1 Johnson M, et al. SITC, 2017. 2 Gandhi L, et al. SITC, 2017. 12
Entinostat + Pembrolizumab Shows Promising Activity In Patients with Heavily Pretreated Cancers 10 mg QoW 5 mg QW 1 mg 5 of 7 NSCLC Uterine Prostate Prostate Prostate Lung Ovarian Prostate Left Parotid gland Distal appendix Ovarian Osteosarcoma neck Cervical Uterine PR (Partial Response) SD (Stable Disease) PD (Progressive Disease) Non-CR/Non-PD Ongoing at Data Cutoff Endometrial Encouraging activity: 3 PRs (ORR = 11.5%) in endometrial, HR+ BC, uterine leiomyosarcoma 2 SDs > 6 months (HR+ BC) 19 (73.1%) and 11 (42.3%) patients on study for 12 and 24 weeks respectively 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 Time on Study (Weeks) 13
Conclusions Consistent with previous reports, entinostat treatment results in reductions in circulating MDSCs No notable differences in the safety profile were observed among the 3 arms, and the overall safety profile was consistent with previously reported experience of entinostat combined with pembrolizumab The combination of entinostat and pembrolizumab continues to show promising activity in patients with heavily pretreated cancers This trial supports continued study of entinostat 5 mg weekly, the schedule being used in other entinostat/pembrolizumab studies and in the ongoing Phase III E2112 entinostat/exemestane study 14
Acknowledgements We thank the patients and their families/caregivers START study staff This study was sponsored by Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ 15