Plus Therapeutics Update: ReSPECT™ Clinical Trials For Treatment Of Difficult-to-Treat Cancers Are Showing Positive Results

At the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting and Education Day of the Society for Neuro-Oncology, Plus Therapeutics, Inc. PSTV provided a positive update about its ReSPECT clinical trials. The ReSPECT trials are evaluating the safety and effectiveness of rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda in patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumors.

Plus Therapeutics is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company that uses proprietary nanotechnology and novel liposomal encapsulation technology to provide innovative treatments for patients battling difficult-to-treat cancers. 

Plus Therapeutics’ rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda is the company’s lead drug candidate designed for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma (GBM), leptomeningeal metastases (LM), and pediatric brain cancers (PBCs), like ependymoma and high-grade glioma.

The company is currently undergoing two clinical trials using rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda. The first trial is targeting GBM. GBM is the deadliest and most common type of brain cancer; currently, there are no viable treatments for significantly extending life. The clinical trial cohort saw a decreased risk of death following the administered dose. 

For ReSPECT-GBM, Plus Therapeutics uses a convection enhanced delivery, which is a local drug delivery technique that when paired with nanoliposomal technology, allows practitioners to bypass the blood-brain barrier and directly infuse the treatment into the target region. 

The other clinical trial, ReSPECT-LM, is targeting LM, a secondary cancer that occurs when cancer spreads to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) area of the CNS; currently, patients only have the option of a toxic treatment or a very short life expectancy. All patients in the ReSPECT-LM trial showed a decreased CSF tumor cell count after treatment.

The administration of ReSPECT-LM uses a highly targeted approach, using an Ommaya ventricular reservoir to directly administer the treatment into the CNS fluid compartment where the tumor is located. 

“Targeted radiotherapy using rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda in patients with GBM and LM has, thus far, been shown to be both feasible and safe across a range of dosages and a variety of delivery parameters. Furthermore, it is unusual to see such a tight correlation between overall survival and absorbed dose at this point of clinical development,” said Andrew J. Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, Neurology, and Neurosurgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and principal investigator of the ReSPECT-GBM and ReSPECT-LM clinical trials. “This data strongly supports continued clinical development for several very difficult-to-treat CNS indications.”

In addition, Plus shared plans for a Phase 1 study of rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda delivered by CED for recurrent or progessive childhood ependymoma and high grade glioma.

Plus Therapeutics is looking to pave the way for the treatment of rare cancers in both children and adults with high mortality rates. The rhenium (186Re) obisbemeda development programs for GBM and LM are supported, in part, by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), respectively. The Company is looking forward to working with the FDA to further the advancement of its research, trials, and therapeutic development. 

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