Dr. Velcheti on the Safety of Nemvaleukin in Solid Tumors

Vamsidhar Velcheti, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, director, Thoracic Medical Oncology Program, NYU Langone Health, discusses the safety of nemvaleukin alfa (nemvaleukin) in patients with advanced solid tumors in the phase 1/2 ARTISTRY-1 trial (NCT02799095).

Investigators of ARTISTRY-1 evaluated nemvaleukin both as a monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in the first-in-human study.

The safety profile of nemvaleukin is similar to other cytokine drugs in its class and the monotherapy safety profile is very promising, Velcheti says. Additionally, nemvaleukin in combination with pembrolizumab had no significant increase in immune-related toxicities, Velcheti explains.

As of the data readout, approximately 3% of patients on the monotherapy discontinued treatment because of the drug, Velcheti continues. No evidence of cytokine release syndrome or capillary leak syndrome were noted in the trial, Velcheti concludes.