Micromet Presents Update at ASCO 2009 on a Phase 1b Combination Study of Adecatumumab and...( Data indicate target-dependent activi...)

Data indicate target-dependent activity in breast cancer patients with high expression of EpCAM

ORLANDO, Fla., June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Micromet, Inc. (Nasdaq: MITI), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases, presented data from a clinical trial investigating its anti-EpCAM human antibody adecatumumab (MT201) in combination with the chemotherapeutic docetaxel in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) held in Orlando, Florida, USA(1).

The phase 1b clinical trial presented at ASCO investigates the safety and tolerability of increasing doses of adecatumumab given every 3 weeks in combination with standard chemotherapy docetaxel (Taxotere(R)) in relapsed MBC patients who had a median of three prior chemotherapy regimens (n=22 assessable for safety and n=19 evaluable for efficacy). Adecatumumab is an antibody that targets EpCAM, a tumor antigen known to be associated with poor prognosis for breast cancer patients. Combining adecatumumab with docetaxel was feasible with clinically manageable diarrhea being the main toxicity at higher doses. Other frequently observed adverse events included nausea, vomiting, stomatitis, constipation, fatigue, fever and chills. Laboratory abnormalities included reduction in various blood cells such as lymphocytes and neutrophils comparable to what is typically observed with docetaxel monotherapy.

The overall response rate according to RECIST [version 1.0] was 38% in patients with high expression of EpCAM (n=8), the target of adecatumumab, compared to 9% in patients with low EpCAM expression (n=11). Patients treated with higher doses of adecatumumab also appeared to have a longer time to progression when compar
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