VP-315 Effective in Clearing Basal Cell Carcinoma Lesions

Verrica Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that in part 1 of an ongoing phase 2 study of VP-315, 67% (4 of 6) of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) tumors were cleared.¹ The results show promise as a non-surgical therapy for BCC.

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The results were shared at the 2023 American Academy of Dermatology Innovation Academy meeting, August 10-13, in Tampa, Florida, in a presentation entitled “VP-315, An Investigational Non-surgical Immunotherapy in Subjects with Biopsy Proven Basal Cell Carcinoma.” VP-315, formerly LTX 315, completely cleared lesions by day 49 post-treatment in 4 of 6 patients. In the other 2 patients, 1 showed 95% tumor clearance and the other showed 30% tumor clearance.

In the presentation by Neal Bhatia, MD, Director of Clinical Dermatology at Therapeutics Clinical Research in San Diego, California, he reviewed the phase 2 study where subjects received between a 2 to 8 mg dose of VP-315 intratumorally once daily for up to 6 treatments over a 2-week period. “VP-315 is intended to not only directly induce necrosis of the tumor, but as it has an abscopal effect, it can impact any tumors growing in the area,” Bhatia told Dermatology Times®. “As an intralesional option, this represents one of the exciting advances in skin cancer research that will hopefully improve treatment outcomes.”

For patients who prefer not to have surgery or who are not candidates for surgery, VP-315 offers a novel therapy that utilizes the body’s immune system to target cancer cells, sparing normal tissue.

LTX-315 had shown positive clinical and histological results in part 1 of the study. In April 2023 Verrica announced the first patient had received treatment in part 2 of the study, which aims to optimize the 8 mg dosing regimen.

“It is very encouraging to see that a majority of patients receiving the higher range of VP-315 dosing experience complete tumor clearance. We now look forward to seeing the results from Part 2 of Verrica’s Phase 2 study investigating the optimization of the dosing regime, which Verrica expect to be concluded in the first half of 2024,” said Øystein Rekdal, CEO of Lytix in a news release.

Lytix Biopharma is a licensing partner of Verrica, and has developed a clinical-stage approach to killing all cancer cells, including resistant cells, by injecting accessible tumors with host-defense peptide derived molecules. These molecules shatter the cancer cells causing their parts to spread, which kickstarts a strong T Cell response.

Reference

1. Lytix Biopharma’s licensing partner Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. Reports interim phase 2 data with LTX-315. News release. August 11, 2023. Accessed August 15, 2023. https://newsweb.oslobors.no/message/596578