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Active, not recruitingNCT03611868Updated Aug 7, 2025

A Study of APG-115 in as a Monotherapy or Combination With Pembrolizumab in Patients With Metastatic Melanomas or Advanced Solid Tumors

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of Phase 1b: APG-115+pembrolizumab in Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma or Advanced Solid Tumors, Melanoma and Uveal Melanoma, sponsored by Ascentage Pharma Group Inc.. Active, not recruiting at 21 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 12 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-08-07.

Primary conditionUveal MelanomaRegistry: MelanomaReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Melanoma — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Uveal Melanoma
Why
  1. The study's listed conditions name Uveal Melanoma, a narrower term within Melanoma.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by Ascentage Pharma Group Inc. (part of Ascentage Pharma Group International) · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Dec 2025, 10 months ago, but the record still lists the study as active, not recruiting.
Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
230
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
12 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study aims to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary efficacy of APG-115, an MDM2 inhibitor, either alone or in combination with pembrolizumab, a programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitor, in patients with metastatic melanomas or advanced solid tumors. Our hypothesis is that restoration of the immune response concomitant to inhibition of the MDM2 pathway (which restores p53 functions) may promote cancer cell death, leading to effective anticancer therapy.

Read the detailed description

This is a phase I/II study to assess the safety and tolerability of APG-115 alone or in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, NSCLC, solid tumors with ATM mutation, liposarcoma, urothelial carcinomas, and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST)The hypothesis is that the current therapy may improve ORR, progression-free survival, and synergistic effect of APG-115 alone or in combination with pembrolizumab in these patients. (n=230, ID: NCT03611868).

02

Conditions studied

  • Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma or Advanced Solid Tumors
  • Melanoma
  • Uveal Melanoma
  • P53 Mutation
  • MDM2 Gene Mutation
  • Cutaneous Melanoma
  • Mucosal Melanoma
  • Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors (MPNST)

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Keywords

  • Metastatic melanoma, MPNST and Advanced Solid Tumors
03

In context

Uveal Melanoma Reclassified

281 studies on the registry are indexed under Uveal Melanoma; 50 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 230 is above the median of 37 across 222 interventional studies indexed under Uveal Melanoma.

Browse Uveal Melanoma studies →

Lead sponsor

Ascentage Pharma Group Inc. is the lead sponsor of 53 studies on the registry; 31 are open to participants now.

Compared within Uveal Melanoma, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Melanoma. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
12 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Male or non-pregnant, non-lactating female patients age ≥18 years, an exception for MPNST cohort: adolescents ≥12 years old (who weigh at least 40 kg) is allowed
  • Part 2:

    1. according to 1.1. Lesions situated in a previously irradiated area, or an area subject to other loco-regional therapy (e.g., intralesional injections) should be considered non-measurable
    2. performance status 0-2
    3. Cohort A: confirmed, unresectable or melanoma, and or relapse after antibody treatment and ineligible for other standard of care therapy per NCCN guideline (previous PD-1/PD-L1 antibody treatment not required for uveal melanoma)
    4. Cohort F: Histologically confirmed, metastatic or unresectable MPNST
  • ≥ 3 months
  • Continuance of treatment related toxicities (except alopecia) due to prior radiotherapy or chemotherapy agents or biological therapy (including PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies) must be ≤ grade 1 at the time of dosing
  • Adequate bone marrow and organ function without continuous supportive treatment
  • interval (mean of 3, 1-3 minutes between tests) ≤450 ms in males and ≤470 ms in females
  • (LVEF) ≥ lower limit of institutional normal (LLN) as assessed by echocardiogram (ECHO) or multigated acquisition (MUGA) scan
  • Tumor tissue must be provided for all subjects for biomarker analysis before treatment with product
  • Willingness to use by a method that is deemed effective by both male and female patients of and their partners throughout the treatment period and for at least three months following the last dose of study drug
  • Ability to understand and willingness to sign a written form.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any prior systemic MDM2-p53 inhibitor treatment
  • Received chemotherapy within 21 days (42 days for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to first dose
  • Part 2 Cohort A: Prior loco-regional treatment with intralesional therapy (e.g., talimogene laherparepvec) for unresectable or melanoma in the last 6 weeks prior to start of study treatment
  • Part 2 Cohort B: Has received radiation therapy to the lung that is >30Gy within 6 months of the first dose of trial treatment
  • Part 2 Cohort E: Known FGFR translocation mutation
  • Received hormonal and biologic, small molecule targeted therapies or other anti-cancer therapy within 21 days prior to first dose
  • Radiation or surgery within 14 days prior to first dose, thoracic radiation within 28 days prior to first dose
  • Has known active central nervous (CNS) metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis. Or has neurologic instability per clinical evaluation due to tumor involvement of the CNS.
  • Requirement for treatment (with the exception of megestrol and local use of steroid: i.e., topical corticosteroids, inhaled corticosteroids for reactive airway disease, ophthalmic, intraarticular, and intranasal steroids
  • Concurrent treatment with an agent or device within 21 days prior to the first dose of therapy
  • Failure to recover adequately, as judged by the investigator, from prior surgical procedures. Patients with active wound healing, patients who have had major surgery within 28 days from 1st dose of study treatment, and patients who have had minor surgery within 14 days from 1st dose of study treatment.
  • Unstable angina, myocardial infarction, or a coronary revascularization procedure within 180 days of study entry
  • Active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), active inflammatory bowel disease, chronic infections, or any other disease or condition associated with chronic inflammation
  • Active infection requiring systemic antibiotic/ antifungal medication, and known clinically active viral infection such as or C, infection, or active COVID-19
  • Has received a within 30 days prior to first dose.
  • Has had an allogeneic tissue/solid organ transplant, prior stem cell or bone marrow transplant
  • Has previously had a severe reaction to treatment with another monoclonal antibody (mAb)
  • Any other condition or circumstance that would, in the opinion of the investigator, make the patient unsuitable for participation in the study
  • History of organ transplant requiring use of medication
  • A woman of who has a positive urine or serum pregnancy test (within 72 hours) prior to treatment.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(20)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Measurable disease

The amount of disease can be tracked with a defined measurement, so the study can see whether it shrinks or grows. It might be a tumour measured on a scan or, in some blood cancers such as myeloma, a marker measured in blood or urine.

The criteria or the study team say which measurement counts — having no tumour visible on a scan does not by itself rule you out.

RECIST

The standard rules for measuring tumours on CT or MRI scans, to tell whether a cancer is shrinking, stable or growing during treatment.

“Measurable disease per RECIST 1.1” usually means at least one tumour 10 mm or more at its longest on a CT scan, or a lymph node 15 mm or more across its short axis.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

Histologically or cytologically confirmed

The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).

Your pathology report is the document that shows this.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

Relapsed and refractory

Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.

PD-1, PD-L1 and checkpoint inhibitors

PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are proteins that act as brakes on the immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab or nivolumab, block them so the immune system can attack a cancer.

PD-L1 can also be measured in a tumour sample. Some scores count stained tumour cells only (TPS); others also count certain immune cells (CPS). The study names the score and the minimum it uses.

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

QT and QTc

On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.

The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.

LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)

The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Live vaccines

Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Sequential assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
230 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    APG-115+pembrolizumab open label, two-part phase Ib/II

    single arm dose escalation and dose expansion

    Drug: Phase 1b: APG-115+pembrolizumab

Interventions

  • DrugPhase 1b: APG-115+pembrolizumab

    Drug pages: Alrizomadlin · Pembrolizumab

    dose escalation of APG-115 in combination with label dose of pembrolizumab, Four dose levels of APG-115 will be tested: 50, 100, 150, and 200 mg. APG-115 will be administrateddose escalation of APG-115 in combination with label dose of pembrolizumab, Fourfour dose levels of APG-115 will be tested: 50, 100, 150, and 200 mg. APG-115 will be administrated orally every other day (QOD) for consecutive 2 weeks (ie. dosed at Day 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13), with one week dosing off as there are cycles every 3-weeks a cycle. Pembrolizumab is administrated following FDA approved label dose, i.e., 200 mg intravenous infusion at Day 1 of every 3 weeks as a cycle. Phase II: Combination of APG-115 at 150 mg (RP2D) and pembrolizumab or APG-115 monotherapy alone.

    Also known as: KEYTRUDA®

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Maximum Tolerated Dose

    Part I is to assess the safety and tolerability of APG-115 by assessing the dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) of APG-115 in combination with pembrolizumab. End points included: Incidence of DLTs during the first 3 weeks of treatment of each dose cohort; Severity and frequency of any adverse event(s) (AE) and serious adverse event(s) (SAE) based on NCI CTCAE 5.0

    Time frame: 21 days

  2. Recommended Phase II Dose

    Part I is aimed to generate data to select the recommended Phase II dose

    Time frame: 21 days

  3. Overall Response Rate

    Phase II is to assess overall response rate of APG-115 as monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab defined as the percentage of subjects with a best overall confirmed complete response (CR) or a partial response (PR) at any time as per RECIST 1.1

    Time frame: up to 12 months

07

Study locations

21 sites
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 7, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03611868
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Aug 2, 2018
Start date
Aug 29, 2018
Primary completion
Dec 30, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 30, 2025 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 7, 2025

Study contacts

Yifan Zhai, MD, PhD
study chair · Ascentage Pharma

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Aug 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Alrizomadlin · Pembrolizumab

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