Biotechnology company CytoAgents has presented preliminary safety data from its Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial of its lead drug candidate CTO1681.

CTO1681 is an oral, small molecule immune modulator that uses a novel approach to prevent and mitigate both inflammation in the tumour microenvironment as well as toxicity frequently seen with lymphoma patients receiving CAR T-cell therapy. The company is currently enrolling patients in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial evaluating CTO1681 in lymphoma patients receiving CAR T-Cell Therapy at risk for inflammatory driven toxicities.

Data presented at the 67^th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting (ASH) show that CTO1681 was well tolerated and no dose-limiting toxicities, and no drug-related serious adverse events were observed in the patient cohort. CytoAgents is now currently enrolling the second cohort of the trial at an escalated dose.

“New approaches to treat inflammation in the tumour microenvironment as well as black box warning toxicities, Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) and the neurotoxicity ICANS, continues to be an area of significant unmet medical need, with the majority of cancer patients undergoing CAR T treatment experiencing CRS and associated neurotoxicity,” said Teresa Whalen, Chief Executive Officer at CytoAgents. “We look forward to sharing this initial positive safety data for CTO1681 at ASH and to continuing our advancement of CTO1681.”