AFM13 in Combination with Allogeneic Natural Killer Cells (AB-101) in Relapsed or Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma and CD30+ Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma: A Phase 2 Study (LuminICE)

Background and Significance

Limited treatment options are available for patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and no standard-of-care therapy is established for R/R peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL); novel therapies to improve outcomes in these patients are required.

AFM13 is a tetravalent, bispecific innate cell engager that binds CD16A on natural killer (NK) cells and CD30 expressed (CD30⁺) on HL and PTCL cells, enhancing NK cell-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). AFM13 monotherapy trials in patients with R/R HL and PTCL have shown promising clinical activity and a tolerable safety profile (Sasse et al. Blood 2020; Kim et al. Cancer Res 2023). Recently, a Phase 1/2 study of AFM13 in combination with cord blood (cb)‑derived NK cells in patients with R/R CD30⁺ lymphomas treated at the recommended phase 2 dose (n=35) achieved an objective response rate (ORR) of 94% and a complete response (CR) rate of 71% (Nieto et al. Blood 2022, oral presentation).

AB-101 is a non-genetically modified, allogeneic, cryopreserved, off-the-shelf, cb-derived NK cell product optimized for enhanced ADCC through selection for the KIR-B haplotype and the CD16 F158V polymorphism. AB-101 has demonstrated potent killing of tumor cell lines in vitro and in vivo, and preliminary results of a Phase 1/2 trial of AB-101 alone and in combination with rituximab in patients with R/R B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma demonstrated AB-101 is well tolerated (Khanal et al. J Clin Oncol 2023).

Combining AFM13 with AB-101 has the potential to synergistically enhance and redirect antitumor immune responses to target HL and CD30⁺ PTCL cells.

Study Design and Methods

This Phase 2, open-label, multi-center, multi-cohort study (NCT05883449) aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AFM13 in combination with AB-101 in patients with R/R HL and certain R/R CD30⁺ PTCL subtypes. PTCL subtypes permitted are PTCL not-otherwise specified, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, and ALK-positive and -negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Patients aged ≥18 years are planned for enrolment and patients with R/R HL must have received at least two prior lines of therapy including prior combination chemotherapy, brentuximab vedotin (BV) and a checkpoint inhibitor. Patients with R/R PTCL must have confirmed CD30 expression of ≥1% by immunohistochemistry and have received at least one prior line of combination chemotherapy; patients with ALCL must have received or been intolerant to BV. Prior autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant is permitted. Exclusion criteria include treatment with any anti-cancer agent ≤21 days prior to enrolment, continuing toxicity from a prior therapy, central nervous system involvement, or previous treatment with AFM13 or NK cells.

The primary objective is to determine the ORR (complete and partial responses) by Independent Radiology Committee (IRC) based on PET-CT per Lugano classification. Secondary objectives include safety and immunogenicity, complete response rate, duration of response and progression free survival.

Treatment will be given intravenously (IV) over 48-day cycles for up to 3 cycles. A run-in phase will assess two dose levels of AFM13 and AB-101 in 4 cohorts (Figure). A standard lymphodepletion regimen of fludarabine (30 mg/m²/day) and cyclophosphamide (300 mg/m²/day) will be administered IV from Day −5 to Day −3 at the start of each treatment cycle. Following this, AFM13 (200 mg or 300 mg once weekly) will be given, with AB-101 (dose level 1 or 2, see Figure) given 1 hour later per cycle. Patients will also receive 6 ×10⁶ IU of IL‑2 subcutaneously at least 1 hour after each AB-101 dose. Cohorts 1 and 2 will enrol in parallel; cohorts 3 and 4 will start only if cohorts 1 and 2 are cleared per protocol safety criteria. After cycle 1 has completed for each subject enrolled in all 4 cohorts, an analysis of the safety and clinical responses will be performed to determine the two dose levels to be evaluated in the main study. In addition, an exploratory cohort (cohort 5) will begin enrolment of patients with CD30⁺ PTCL. Disease and efficacy assessments will be conducted at screening and on Day 43 (± 3 days) of each cycle.