Hookipa Pharma doses first patients with eseba-vec

HOOKIPA Pharma (HOOK) announced that researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, MSKCC, have dosed the first patients in an investigator initiated trial, IIT, of eseba-vec, HOOKIPA’s human papillomavirus type 16-targeted investigational immunotherapeutic agent, in patients with minimal residual disease positive HPV-driven head and neck cancer. Malte Peters, Chief Executive Officer of HOOKIPA added, “Eseba-vec was well tolerated and has demonstrated compelling efficacy in combination with pembrolizumab in HPV+ HNSCC. We look forward to building on these promising findings with the expansion into adjuvant care. Our eseba-vec clinical development program in HNSCC continues to advance and we are on track to initiate our pivotal AVALON-1 Phase 2/3 study in the front-line setting for patients with HPV16+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in the fourth quarter of 2024. We expect initial safety and efficacy data from the IIT in 2026.”