sensei(US:SNSE) Globenewswireยท2025-10-17 12:00Core Insights - Sensei Biotherapeutics announced results from the dose expansion portion of its Phase 1/2 trial for solnerstotug, a monoclonal antibody targeting VISTA, at the ESMO Congress 2025 [1][2] Study Design and Patient Population - The Phase 1 dose expansion is a multi-center, open-label study evaluating solnerstotug as monotherapy and in combination with Libtayo, enrolling 44 patients with "hot" tumor types and 20 patients with "cold" tumor types [2] - Among the "hot tumor" patients, 41 had previously received PD-(L)1 therapy and progressed, indicating a challenging prognosis for these patients [3][4] Efficacy Results - In the higher 15 mg/kg dose cohort, the overall 6-month progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 50% among PD-(L)1 resistant patients, which is significantly higher than historical benchmarks [6][7] - Six clinical responses were observed at the 15 mg/kg dose, including five in patients with PD-(L)1 resistant tumors, while no responses were noted at the 3 mg/kg dose [5][6] Safety Profile - Solnerstotug was well tolerated, with only six mild (Grade 1) cytokine release syndrome (CRS) events reported, all manageable [8][9] - The safety profile remains consistent with prior data and compares favorably to other checkpoint inhibitor combinations [8] Future Development Plans - Sensei plans to initiate two Phase 2 studies in 2026, subject to FDA feedback and capital raising, focusing on NSCLC and Merkel Cell Carcinoma [11][12] - The first trial will be a randomized study comparing solnerstotug plus a PD-(L)1 inhibitor against chemotherapy in patients who failed anti-PD-(L)1 treatment [11] - The second trial will be a single-arm study in PD-(L)1 resistant Merkel Cell Carcinoma patients, with potential for accelerated approval [12] Unique Mechanism of Action - The combination of solnerstotug and cemiplimab may demonstrate a unique pattern of delayed, durable responses, indicating a complementary mechanism to PD-(L)1 therapies [10][9]