Based on this positive safety data, the plan is now to initiate the pivotal RELEASE study with up to two fimaCHEM treatments and include a seamless safety review by an Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) when eight patients have completed two treatments in the pivotal RELEASE study.
The design of the pivotal RELEASE study is based on regulatory interactions The pivotal RELEASE study design is based on the outcome of meetings with the two leading regulatory authorities European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The study programme consists of a single open randomised two-arm study with 186 patients (93 patients per arm), having a control arm with the SoC treatment of up to eight cycles of the chemotherapies gemcitabine and cisplatin, and an experimental arm with up to two fimaCHEM treatments in addition to SoC.
The study’s primary endpoint is PFS, with overall survival (OS) as a key secondary endpoint. The study includes an interim analysis of PFS followed by analysis of objective response rate (ORR), with the potential of accelerated/conditional marketing approval.
In addition, the study contains several other secondary endpoints that provide the opportunity to generate robust comparative data of importance for market acceptance of fimaCHEM as a first-line treatment for inoperable bile duct cancer.