Monday, January 29, 2024
Vergent Bioscience recently shared new findings at the 60th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (#STS2024). The data reveal that VGT-309, their investigational tumor-targeted fluorescent imaging agent, effectively visualizes both primary and metastatic tumor tissue in the lung during surgery.
These results reinforce the outcomes of earlier clinical trials of VGT-309, indicating its potential to aid surgeons in real-time detection of challenging-to-find tumors during minimally invasive (MIS) and robotic-assisted lung cancer surgeries.
John Santini, Ph.D., President, and CEO of Vergent Bioscience, stated, "The data presented today at STS 2024 suggest that VGT-309 could help support more confident and reliable removal of a wide breadth of cancers in the lung that would otherwise be missed during minimally invasive and robotic surgery."
The Phase 2 efficacy study of VGT-309 involved 40 individuals eligible for lung cancer surgery, assessing the impact of intraoperative molecular imaging (IMI) on surgical outcomes. The study aimed to identify clinically significant events, such as localizing lesions not found by standard techniques and detecting synchronous or occult cancers. The results indicated that 42.5% of participants who received VGT-309 had at least one clinically significant event.
VGT-309, administered via intravenous infusion preoperatively, allowed surgeons to visualize various primary and metastatic tumor types intraoperatively. The study included adenocarcinoma in situ, invasive adenocarcinoma, lymphoma, colorectal cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, sarcomas, and squamous cell carcinoma. Importantly, VGT-309 was found to be safe and well-tolerated, with no infusion reactions or drug-related serious adverse events.
The ongoing Phase 2 multi-center VISUALIZE study is expected to provide further insights into the potential impact of VGT-309 on improving outcomes for cancer patients undergoing surgery. The study, registered under ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05400226, is supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
VGT-309 is a tumor-targeted imaging agent designed for optimal tumor visualization in various surgical procedures, including open, minimally invasive, and robotic-assisted surgeries. Developed at Stanford University School of Medicine, VGT-309 binds covalently to cathepsins, a family of proteases overexpressed in solid tumors. The imaging component utilizes the near-infrared dye indocyanine green (ICG), compatible with commercially available NIR intraoperative imaging systems supporting MIS technologies.
Source: businesswire.com
