EOC: Immutep, EOC Pharma launch Phase II trial on metastatic breast cancer patients in China

Immutep Limited (ASX: IMM) announced that its Chinese partner, EOC Pharma, will begin a new Phase II clinical trial on up to 152 metastatic breast cancer patients in China.Immutep Limited is a biotechnology company, which develops novel immunotherapy treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases.Just like the Company's AIPAC study, the EOC Pharma trial would be a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II clinical study with the study endpoints. It comprises progression-free survival, overall survival, and overall response rate. It is projected that the trial would happen across 20 clinical trial sites in China over a time span of 24 months. Further, the trial would assess lead product candidate eftilagimod alpha of Immutep along with paclitaxel in HER2-negative/HR positive metastatic breast cancer patients, who have shown progression post endocrine treatment.EOC Pharma got encouraging scientific advice from the Chinese National Medical Products Administration, which will allow the first patient to be registered & dosed in the first quarter trial CY2021.Breast Cancer, the most common disease in Chinese WomenAs per Xiaoming Zou, who is the CEO of EOC Pharma, breast cancer has become a common disease amongst Chinese females. Every year, there are more than 1.6 million people who are diagnosed with the disease, out of these 1.2 million people die.He further said that it is very important to find new methods to improve paclitaxel chemotherapy. Paclitaxel chemotherapy is still a standard way of treating patients diagnosed with HER2-negative/HR positive metastatic breast cancer. He seemed to be optimistic about the encouraging AIPAC results as it gives hope for a better outcome to patients.A Glance at Phase IIb AIPAC Study in Metastatic Breast CancerOn 10 December 2020, Immutep Limited reported encouraging first Overall Survival follow-up data from its ongoing Phase IIb AIPAC study. The study evaluates the lead product of Immutep, eftilagimod alpha along with paclitaxel chemotherapy, against a combination of placebo and paclitaxel chemotherapy in patients diagnosed with HER2-negative/HR positive metastatic breast cancer.The data obtained were chosen to be presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2020, which is being held virtually this week in Texas, USA.At AEDT 2:10 PM, IMM shares are trading at 0.470, up 67.857% from its previous close.DO READ: 3 ASX Small-Cap Healthcare Players Under Focus - Immutep, Respiri, Volpara Health Technologies