Apexigen Presents New Data from a Phase 2 Trial Evaluating its CD40 Antibody, Sotigalimab, in Combination with Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation in Patients with Resectable Esophageal and Gastroesophageal Junction Cancers at ESMO Congress 2022

-Sotigalimab in combination with neoadjuvant chemoradiation induced higher pathologic complete response rates, an important predictor of survival, in patients with both adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma-

Excerpt from the Press Release:

SAN CARLOS, Calif., Sept. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Apexigen, Inc. (NASDAQ: APGN) a clinical-stage company focused on developing innovative antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer with a focus on immuno-oncology, today announced the presentation of new data from a Phase 2 multicenter clinical trial evaluating sotigalimab (sotiga), Apexigen’s agonist antibody targeting CD40, in combination with neoadjuvant chemoradiation for patients with resectable esophageal and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers. Encouraging pathologic complete response (pCR) rates were observed in patients with both adenocarcinoma (AC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). These data were featured in a poster presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, being held both virtually and in Paris from September 9-13, 2022.

“We are excited to present new data at ESMO that highlight the clinical utility of sotiga and the potential to improve outcomes in patients with resectable esophageal and GEJ cancers,” said Andrew Ko, M.D., Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and Principal Investigator of the study. “The pathologic complete response rates, an important predictor of survival, compared favorably to historical pCR rates with standard of care treatment alone. Moreover, our study demonstrates that sotiga was able to be safely added to concurrent chemotherapy plus radiation. These results speak to the promise of sotiga-based combination therapies.”

Frank Hsu, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Apexigen commented, “The results from this ongoing study validate sotiga’s differentiated mechanism of action, which has the potential to expand anti-tumor immune responses and modulate the tumor microenvironment for maximal therapeutic effect. We believe sotiga has the potential to become a backbone of combination therapy to address the need for innovative treatment options, as demonstrated by the encouraging rates of pCR in the overall patient population and across histologic subgroups of both adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Additionally, a single dose of sotiga alone induced an inflammatory response in the tumor, which was quantitatively higher in patients achieving a pCR. These important correlative findings further highlight sotiga’s potential to turn cold tumors hot, and together with the emerging data across our broad Phase 2 development program, suggest there is significant opportunity for sotiga to provide meaningful clinical benefit across multiple solid tumor indications. We look forward to providing updates on our progress as we advance our clinical program.”

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