Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced the presentation of lesion clearance data from Part 1 of an ongoing Phase 2 study of VP-315 for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The presentation is titled ?VP-315, an Investigational Non-surgical Immunotherapy in Subjects with Biopsy Proven Basal Cell Carcinoma? and highlights the antitumor response of VP-315 as determined by clinical and histological clearance of treated BCC lesions.

Dr. Neal Bhatia MD, Director of Clinical Dermatology Therapeutics Clinical Research in San Diego and Principal Investigator for the study, presented the data at the 2023 American Academy of Dermatology Innovation Academy, which is being held from August 10-13th, in Tampa, FL. Part 1 Study Results: Subjects received once daily dosing of VP-315, administered intratumorally, in up to 2 biopsy-proven BCC lesions for up to 6 treatments over a 2-week period. Six lesions were treated at the 8 mg dose and post-treatment clinical assessment and excisions were performed at Day 49 (Range 35-70), followed by histological evaluation.

Consistent clinical and histological clearance of treated BCC lesions was observed by Day 49 post-treatment with the 8 mg dose of VP-315, with 4 of 6 subjects (67%) showing complete tumor clearance. The other 2 subjects showed a partial response in tumor burden reduction (95% tumor clearance and 30% tumor clearance). Optimization of the 8 mg dosing regimen is under investigation in Part 2 of the study.

These early encouraging results from Part 1 support VP-315 as a potential non-surgical therapeutic approach for BCC. About the Phase 2 Trial of VP-315: The Phase 2 trial is a 2-part, open-label, multicenter, dose-escalation, proof-of-concept study with a safety run-in designed to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of VP-315 when administered intratumorally to adults with biopsy-proven basal cell carcinoma. The study is expected to enroll approximately 80 adult subjects with a histological diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma in at least one eligible target lesion.