Recruiting
Phase 1
Phase 2

DOC1021 & pIFN

Sponsor:

Diakonos Oncology Corporation

Code:

NCT07288112

Conditions

Refractory Melanoma

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

DOC1021

Tumor resection

pIFN (peginterferon alfa-2a)

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if DOC1021 + pIFN will be safe and will lead to tumor responses in patients with refractory melanoma. DOC1021 is a dendritic cell immunotherapy derived from a patient's own blood cells and loaded with antigens from the patient's tumor in the form of tumor lysate and mRNA. The goal is to stimulate a T cell immune response that eliminates tumor cells.

The study consists of two components: an initial phase I safety study to confirm safety/tolerability of the treatment regimen, and, subsequently, a single-arm phase II cohort to assess efficacy of the treatment regimen.

All participants will:

  • Take filgrastim subcutaneously x 5 doses and subsequently undergo a leukapheresis collection
  • Receive two doses of DOC1021 under image guidance 2 weeks apart
  • Receive subcutaneous pIFN injections weekly for a total of 4 doses in parallel with the DOC1021 injections
  • Undergo an optional image-guided perinodal DOC1021 booster injection approximately 6 months after the first DOC1021 dose along with additional subcutaneous pIFN injections at time of the booster and the subsequent week for a total of 2 pIFN doses
  • Visit the clinic regularly to assess quality of life, symptoms, medication use, imaging, bloodwork, and to receive optional treatment with anti-PD1 agents

Conditions

Refractory Melanoma

Study ID

NCT07288112

Start date

Apr 6, 2026

Status verified date

Aug, 2026

Completion date

Jan, 2033

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jan, 2031

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
2. Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and avail-ability for the duration of the study
3. Age 18 years or older
4. Patients diagnosed with unresectable or metastatic melanoma and progressed following ≥1 prior systemic therapy including anti-PD-1 (i.e., refractory to anti-PD-1). Refractory defined as primary or secondary resistance as per SITC guidelines, except that confirmatory scan not required if clinical progression requiring surgery or radiation to relieve symptoms
5. Willing and able to withhold anti-PD-1 treatment from the time of enrollment through \~6 weeks after the first DOC1021 administration
6. One or more lesions available for biopsy or resection to yield at least 50 mg (e.g., 5 core biopsies) and preferably 100 mg of tumor for generating DOC1021 and at least 1 measurable target tumor lesion evaluable after DOC1021 by RECIST version 1.1.
7. Brain metastases allowed if stable after prior treatment
8. Ability to receive filgrastim (e.g. Neupogen), leukapheresis and perinodal injections of DOC1021 near regional nodes + weekly pIFN x 4 weeks.
9. Females of reproductive potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test and agree to use effective contraception (as deter-mined appropriate for the patient by the investigator) during study treatment.
10. Adequate kidney, liver, bone marrow function, and immune function, as follows:

1. Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 gm/dL (use of transfusion or other intervention to achieve is acceptable)
2. Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1,500 cells/mm3
3. Platelet count ≥ 75,000/mm3
4. Calculated creatinine clearance (CrCl) > 30 mL/min using Cockcroft and Gault formula:

i. For males = (140 - age\[years\]) x (body weight \[kg\]) / (72 x serum creatinine \[mg/dL\]) ii. For females = 0.85 x value from male formula e. Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN) except in patients with Gilbert's disease for which total bilirubin must be ≤ 3 times ULN f. Aspartate transaminase AST (SGOT) and alanine aminotransferase ALT (SGPT) ≤ 3 times the ULN (or ≤ 5.0 × ULN if liver metastases)
11. Eastern Cooperative Group (ECOG) Performance Score 0 or 1

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
2. Known active HIV or hepatitis infection. Patients with HIV that is well-controlled and have undetectable viral titers remain eligible. Patients with history of HCV adequately treated such that RNA viral load is negative also remain eligible.
3. Any severe or uncontrolled medical condition or other condition that could affect participation in this study as determined by the investigator, including but not limited to uncontrolled or severe cardiac dis-ease, systemic autoimmune disorders requiring immunosuppression\*, autoimmune hyper/hypothyroidism, untreated viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis (\*autoimmune disorders include but are not limited to rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease and immunosuppressive medications include DMARDs like methotrexate, TNF inhibitors, IL-6 receptor blockers, CD80/86 inhibitors, anti-CD20 and JAK inhibitors)
4. Residual immune-related toxicities from prior immunotherapy > Grade 1 severity. However, patients who experienced prior endocrine toxicity are eligible if well-controlled on replacement therapy.
5. Treatment with another investigational drug or other experimental intervention within the last 30 days.

Study Design

Enrollment

35 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Experimental: DOC1021 + pIFN

DOC1021 administered by injection near active tumor lesion lymph nodes + pIFN

Interventions

DOC1021

Double-loaded dendritic cell vaccine, loaded with tumor lysate and mRNA using proprietary method

Tumor resection

Tumor resection or biopsy

pIFN (peginterferon alfa-2a)

pIFN 180 mcg subcutaneously every week for 4 total doses

Primary outcome measure

  • Phase I: To evaluate the number of dose limiting toxicities reported [ Time Frame: From time of first DOC1021 dose administration to 6 weeks later ]
  • Phase II: To evaluate the objective response rate (ORR) as the proportion of patients with a confirmed complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) to treatment, as per RECIST 1.1 criteria [ Time Frame: 5 years ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Locations

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Recruiting

Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35233

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

John Dubay, MD

Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center

Recruiting

Gilbert, Arizona, United States, 85234

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Fade Mahmoud, MD

Arizona State University-Honor Health Research Institute

Recruiting

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, 85258

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Justin Moser, MD

City of Hope

Recruiting

Duarte, California, United States, 91010

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Yan Xing, MD, PhD

Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Institute

Recruiting

Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Alexandra Haugh, MD, MPH

Atlantic Health

Recruiting

Morristown, New Jersey, United States, 07960

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Eric Whitman, MD

University of North Carolina

Recruiting

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Stergios Moschos, MD

UT Southwestern

Recruiting

Dallas, Texas, United States, 75235

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Sanjay Chandrasekaran, MD

More Information

Sponsor

Diakonos Oncology Corporation

Last update posted

Aug 12, 2026

Last verified

Aug, 2026

Keywords

  • Dendritic Cell Vaccine
  • Immunotherapy
  • Tumor Vaccine

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Diakonos Oncology Corporation on 2026-08-12.