A Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of RZ-001 with Valganciclovir (VGCV) in Subjects with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

A Phase 1/2a, Open-label, Multicenter, Dose Escalation and Dose Expansion Study Evaluating the Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of RZ-001 in Combination with Valganciclovir in Subjects with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

This is first in human study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity, and preliminary clinical activity of RZ-001 when given to subjects with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)-positive HCC.

The study will be conducted in 2 parts.

Part 1 is a dose escalation study which aims to explore the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D) after the single escalating dose of the intratumoral (IT) injection given through 4 different cohorts.

Part 2 will consist of dose expansion, exploring clinical activity for the optimal fixed dose based on the results of Part 1.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult males and females
• Hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis (BCLC stage B or C)
• hTERT positive expression confirmed during the screening period
• ECOG score of 0 or 1
• Child-Pugh score of A to B7
• Life expectancy >= 3 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• Moderate or severe ascites
• History of hepatic encephalopathy
• Carcinomas other than HCC
• Current or history of HIV positive
• Not suitable for inclusion judged by the investigator