-Initiation of Phase 2b trial follows clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS)-

-The first patient was dosed in Spain; trial expected to enroll 92 adults at sites across the US, Spain, and Germany-

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Theriva Biologics (NYSE:TOVX), ("Theriva" or the "Company"), a diversified clinical-stage company developing therapeutics designed to treat cancer and related diseases in areas of high unmet need, today announced the first patient has been dosed in VIRAGE, the Phase 2b randomized, open-label, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial of systemically administered VCN-01 in combination with standard-of-care (SoC) chemotherapy (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel) as a first line therapy for patients with newly-diagnosed metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

"The dosing of the first patient in our Phase 2b PDAC trial represents an important step in our pursuit to address unmet needs for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers," said Steven A. Shallcross, Chief Executive Officer of Theriva Biologics. "The incidence of PDAC continues to rise and while it continues to have one of the lowest survival rates among all cancer types, efforts to improve upon the standard of care treatment have largely stalled. In contrast, we are encouraged by the growing clinical data that underscore VCN-01's differentiated mechanism of action, as well as the biological activity and synergistic clinical benefit observed in combination with SoC chemotherapy for patients with PDAC and other solid tumors. With regulatory clearance from the FDA and AEMPS, we look forward to the continued progress of this program and more broadly, the advancement of our novel OV platform."

About VIRAGE
VIRAGE is a two-arm Phase 2b open-label, randomized, controlled, multicenter clinical trial in patients with histologically confirmed, newly-diagnosed metastatic PDAC. VIRAGE is expected to enroll up to 92 adult participants at up to 25 sites across the US, Spain, and Germany. In both the control and treatment arms, patients will receive gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel standard of care chemotherapy over 28-day cycles. In the treatment arm only, patients will also receive systemically administered VCN-01 seven-days prior to the first and fourth cycles of gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel treatment. Primary endpoints for the trial include overall survival and VCN-01 safety/tolerability. Additional endpoints include progression free survival, objective response rate, and measures of biodistribution, VCN-01 replication, and immune response. Since this is an open label trial, progress will be monitored very closely and steps to accelerate the clinical program may be implemented if supported by the emerging data. More information about the trial is available here and through the Spanish Clinical Trials Registry (EudraCT Number: 2022-000897-24).