MARLBOROUGH, Mass.,
April 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/
-- RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII), a
biotechnology company developing the next generation of
immuno-oncology therapeutics based on its proprietary
self-delivering RNAi (sd-rxRNA®) therapeutic platform, announced
today that research conducted using its self-delivering RNAi
platform in the field of immunotherapy to treat cancer was
published in a leading peer-reviewed journal. Molecular
Therapy published the paper today, "Self-Delivering RNAi
(sd-rxRNA®) Targeting PD-1 using Adoptive Cell Therapy Approach for
the Treatment of Malignant Melanoma."
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The paper describes research done to evaluate the potential of
improving TIL therapy by applying RXi's novel sd-rxRNA compounds
specific to PD-1. The results show that targeting the
PD-1/PD-L1 axis can enhance the ex vivo expansion rate and
in vivo longevity of patient derived TILs used for ACT in
malignant melanoma patients. Transfection of these T-cells with the
PD-1 targeting self-delivering sd-rxRNA compounds was easy to
incorporate in an established, clinically relevant rapid expansion
protocol and resulted in increased functionality of the transfected
TILs against autologous tumors as compared to control TIL.
Rolf Kiessling, MD, PhD, Senior
Professor in Experimental Oncology at the Karolinska Institutet, Senior Chief Physician at
the Oncology clinic at the Karolinska University Hospital and
member of RXi's Scientific Advisory Board stated: "TIL expanded in
the presence of PD-1 specific sd-rxRNA performed with increased
functionality against autologous tumors as compared to control TIL.
This method of introducing RNAi into T cells to modify the
expression of proteins could easily be adopted into any ACT
protocol and will lead to the exploration of new combination
therapies."
"These results are of direct clinical relevance to ACT for
treatment of cancer and further support the broad applicability of
the sd-rxRNA platform in multiple cell types," said Dr.
Karen Bulock, Vice President of
Research at RXi Pharmaceuticals. She further added, "We are
continuing to expand our internal development efforts and external
collaborations to explore our platform in various existing
cell-based ACT approaches including TILs, CAR T, TCR, NK and
engineered NK cells."
Immunotherapy of cancer has become increasingly important in
clinical practice over the recent decade. By activating the
patient's immune system, immunotherapy treatments have shown
remarkable promise in extending the lifespan of previously
untreatable cancer patients. ACT is and emerging
immunotherapy approach which uses immune cells, such as
T-lymphocytes or NK cells that are isolated from the patient or
retrieved from allogeneic immune cell banks, and then expanded and
in some cases processed to express tumor-binding
receptors.
A new and important step in this ex-vivo processing of
the immune cells is in development where self-delivering RNAi
compounds (sd-rxRNA®) are used to eliminate the expression of
immunosuppressive receptors or proteins from the therapeutic immune
cells, making them less sensitive to tumor resistance mechanisms
and thus improving their ability to destroy tumor cells.
In this way, sd-rxRNA therapeutic compounds can be used to
weaponize therapeutic immune cells to attack cancer and ultimately
provide patients battling terminal cancers with a powerful new
treatment option that goes beyond current treatment modalities.
"Self-Delivering RNAi (sd-rxRNA®) Targeting PD-1 using Adoptive
Cell Therapy Approach for the Treatment of Malignant Melanoma" may
be accessed on Molecular Therapy's website:
http://www.cell.com/molecular-therapy-family/molecular-therapy/abstract/S1525-0016(18)30172-2
About RXi Pharmaceuticals
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII) is a
biotechnology company developing immuno-oncology therapeutics based
on its self-delivering RNAi (sd-rxRNA®) therapeutic platform.
Building on the pioneering discovery of RNAi, scientists at
RXi have harnessed the naturally occurring RNAi process which can
be used to "silence" or down-regulate the expression of a specific
gene that may be overexpressed in a disease condition. RXi
developed a robust RNAi therapeutic platform, including sd-rxRNA
compounds, that has the potential to highly selectively block the
expression of any target in the genome, thus providing
applicability to many therapeutic areas. RXi's extensive
patent portfolio provides for multiple product and business
development opportunities across a broad spectrum of therapeutic
areas, and we actively pursue research collaborations, partnering
and out-licensing opportunities with academia and pharmaceutical
companies. For additional information, visit the Company's website,
www.rxipharma.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements
about: our expectation regarding closing of the offering, our
ability to successfully develop RXI-109, Samcyprone™, RXI-762,
RXI-804 and our other product candidates (collectively "our product
candidates"); the future success of our clinical trials with our
product candidates; the timing for the commencement and completion
of clinical trials; our ability to enter into strategic
partnerships and the future success of these strategic
partnerships; and our ability to deploy our sd-rxRNA® technology
through partnerships, as well as the prospects of these
partnerships to provide positive returns. Forward-looking
statements about expectations and development plans of RXi's
product candidates and partnerships involve significant risks and
uncertainties, including the following: risks that we may not be
able to successfully develop and commercialize our product
candidates; risks that product development and clinical studies may
be delayed, not proceed as planned and/or be subject to significant
cost over-runs; risks related to the development and
commercialization of products by competitors; risks related to our
ability to control the timing and terms of collaborations with
third parties; and risks that other companies or organizations may
assert patent rights preventing us from developing or
commercializing our product candidates. Additional risks are
detailed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and
subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q under the caption "Risk
Factors." Readers are urged to review these risk factors and
to not act in reliance on any forward-looking statements, as actual
results may differ from those contemplated by our forward-looking
statements. RXi does not undertake to update forward-looking
statements to reflect a change in its views, events or
circumstances that occur after the date of this release.
Contact
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Tamara McGrillen
508-929-3646
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