Poolbeg Pharma to begin small trial of oral drug for preventing cytokine release syndrome in cancer patients at six NHS hospitals

Poolbeg Pharma is preparing to test its oral drug POLB 001 at six NHS hospitals to determine whether it can prevent cytokine release syndrome in patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The trial will enroll 30 people who are scheduled to receive Johnson & Johnson’s teclistamab, marketed as Tecvayli.

It will be conducted at six hospitals across Britain and is led by the University of Manchester and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

Patients will begin taking POLB 001 at home before starting cancer treatment. ” About 70 percent of patients who receive immunotherapies from Johnson & Johnson, Gilead, Novartis, AstraZeneca and other companies develop cytokine release syndrome. No approved therapy currently exists for its prevention.

Poolbeg expects interim data from the trial by the end of the summer. The company estimates that roughly half a million people diagnosed with multiple myeloma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the United States and the five largest European countries will receive immunotherapy by 2031.

Patients receiving these immunotherapies normally remain in hospital for two to three weeks in case they develop cytokine release syndrome.

Skillington said the drug could allow treatment to move from specialist cancer centres to community hospitals. Poolbeg estimates a potential price of $20,000 (£15,000) per treatment with POLB 001 and projects a market worth $10 billion. The immunotherapies themselves cost between $300,000 and $400,000 for a full course.

The company is also developing a GLP-1 weight-loss pill in partnership with AnaBio Technologies. An early-stage trial of that product will test 20 healthy volunteers with a body-mass index above 30 later this year and will be led by Dr Carel Le Roux, professor of metabolic medicine at Ulster University. Poolbeg was spun out of hVIVO in July 2021.