Portage Biotech Announces First Patient Dosed in Phase 1a Trial of PORT-6 in Select Solid Tumors

WESTPORT, Conn., June 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Portage Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTG), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company advancing novel multi-targeted therapies for use as single agents and in combination, announced today that it has dosed the first patient in its Phase 1a trial, ADPORT-601 (NCT04969315). The trial is evaluating Portage’s adenosine 2A receptor (A2AR) antagonist candidate, PORT-6, in patients with solid tumors including prostate cancer, renal and non-small cell lung cancer.

“We are excited to announce the first patient dosed in the Phase 1a safety portion of the ADPORT-601 trial in collaboration with our academic partners. This trial is a critical next step in our comprehensive exploration of how targeting the adenosine pathway could improve outcomes in multiple cancer types,” said Dr. Ian Walters, CEO and Chairman of Portage Biotech. “Adenosine pathway blockade has shown safety and monotherapy activity in numerous solid tumors, and PORT-6 represents a next-generation approach which we believe is, based on our pre-clinical studies, more potent, durable and selective than other agents. We are continuing to advance this program along with the ongoing development of our iNKT engager, PORT-2, giving us multiple potential product candidates for patients in need.”

ADPORT-601 is an adaptive Phase 1a/1b trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of PORT-6 (A2AR). The trial also plans to evaluate Portage’s adenosine 2B receptor (A2BR) antagonist (PORT-7) and integrate proprietary biomarkers to select patients with high A2A and A2B expression. This approach is expected to allow for customization of treatment for any given tumor type to identify patients that are more likely to respond and have potential to benefit most from treatment.

“Preclinical, translational, and clinical trials have demonstrated the critical role of the adenosine signaling pathway in contributing to tumor evasion of the immune system. Portage appears to have the best-in-class A2AR and A2BR antagonists to target this immunosuppressive pathway,” said Dr. Sumit Subudhi of MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the investigators in the ADPORT-601 trial.

Dr. Lawrence Fong of the Hellen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco remarked, “The PORT-6 A2AR antagonist and PORT-7 A2BR antagonist trial should provide insight into understanding the therapeutic implications of targeting each pathway alone or in combination together at optimum biologic doses in multiple cancer types, something we have not been able to do before in this field. We look forward to evaluating the potential of Portage’s adenosine antagonists in this clinical trial, which should also provide insights into potentially improving on current patient selection strategies by selecting patients whose tumors have a high level of adenosine expression.”