Selexis SA and Pelican Therapeutics Sign Agreement to Advance Pelican’s Immunotherapy Clinical Programs
October 04 2017 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Selexis to Develop High-performance Research
Cell Banks to Expedite the Manufacturing of Immunotherapy Clinical
Candidates Designed to Target Cancers of High Unmet Need
Selexis SA and Pelican Therapeutics (“Pelican”), a subsidiary of
Heat Biologics, Inc. (“Heat”) (Nasdaq: HTBX), announced that they
have entered into a service agreement to advance the development of
Pelican’s proprietary immunotherapy clinical candidates. Under the
agreement, Pelican intends to leverage Selexis’ proprietary
SUREtechnology PlatformTM to rapidly develop high-performance
research cell banks (RCBs) expressing two of Pelican’s clinical
candidates, including PTX-35, a humanized monoclonal antibody that
is a functional agonist of human TNFRSF25, and PTX-15, a human
TL1A-Ig fusion protein. Both candidates have the potential to
improve clinical response when used in combination with Heat’s
ImPACT® therapeutic platform and other immunotherapy drugs.
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“With immunotherapies dominating the treatment landscape, we
continually find that our technology can help our partners, such as
Pelican, advance candidates for unmet medical needs including
certain cancers,” said Yemi Onakunle, PhD, MBA, Selexis vice
president, licensing and business development. “By combining our
ability to rapidly produce high-expressing and stable research cell
banks with KBI Biopharma’s strong development, production and
analytical capabilities, we are able to reliably and predictably
support Pelican’s clinical development and provide the fastest
timelines to the eventual commercialization of both clinical
candidates.”
In June 2017, JSR Corporation acquired Selexis SA to bring
best-in-class cell line development technology to JSR Life
Sciences, its life sciences division. JSR Life Sciences is now
offering industry partners best-in-class contract development
manufacturing organization (CDMO) services by complementing its
commercial subsidiary KBI Biopharma with Selexis technologies.
Rahul Jasuja, CEO of Pelican, added: “We chose Selexis for their
expertise in cell line expression technologies for recombinant
protein therapeutics for the CMC development of our two molecules,
PTX-35 and PTX-15. We look forward to advancing our TNFRSF25
agonist program with both KBI Biopharma and Selexis as we prepare
for our first-in-human clinical trial.”
PTX-35, Pelican’s lead product candidate, is a novel monoclonal
antibody against TNFRSF25, an emerging costimulatory receptor on T
cells. The agent provides highly selective and potent stimulation
of ‘memory’ CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, a class of T cell that is
responsible for eliminating tumor cells in patients. PTX-35 has the
potential to enhance durability of antigen-specific immune
responses in combination with other immunotherapies.
Selexis’ proprietary SUREtechnology Platform facilitates
the rapid, stable, and cost-effective production of virtually any
recombinant protein and provides seamless integration of the
biologics development continuum, spanning discovery to
commercialization.
About Selexis SA
Selexis SA is a pioneering life sciences company and a global
leader in mammalian (suspension-adapted CHO-K1) cell line
generation, providing unparalleled proprietary technology and the
highly-specialized expertise that is necessary to translate
scientific innovation into life-saving medicines for patients.
Selexis’ SUREtechnology Platform™ facilitates the rapid, stable,
and cost-effective production of virtually any recombinant protein
and provides seamless integration of the bioproduction continuum,
spanning discovery to commercialization. With more than 100
partners worldwide, 80+ drug products in clinical development and
three commercial products utilizing Selexis-generated cell lines,
the Company has a history of empowering scientists and
biopharmaceutical companies around the world to realize the full
potential of their research. More information is available at
www.selexis.com.
About Pelican Therapeutics
Pelican Therapeutics (“Pelican”), a subsidiary of Heat
Biologics, is a biotechnology company focused on the development of
monoclonal antibody and fusion protein-based therapies designed to
activate the immune system. PTX-35 targets the T-cell
co-stimulator, TNFRSF25, and is designed to harness the body's
natural immune mechanisms to reprogram the immune system and
provide a long-term, durable effect after a short course of
therapy. When combined with immunotherapies, including
Heat’s ImPACT® and ComPACT™ platform
technologies, PTX-35 may have the ability to activate T-cells and
eliminate tumor cells in patients. PTX-15, Pelican’s second product
candidate, is a human TL1A-lg fusion protein designed to stimulate
the proliferation of T-cell subsets. It is designed to be used in
immuno-oncology and other disorders. In June 2016, Pelican was
awarded a $15.2 million Cancer Prevention Institute of Texas
(CPRIT) grant to support further development of PTX-35 and fund a
Phase 1 clinical trial to examine potential benefits to patients
with several types of cancers, such as lung, lymphoma, prostate,
pancreatic and ovarian.
About Heat Biologics, Inc.
Heat Biologics is a biopharmaceutical company developing
immunotherapies to activate a patient’s immune system against
cancer using CD8+ "Killer" T-cells. Our T-Cell Activation Platform
(TCAP) produces therapies designed to turn "cold" tumors "hot," and
be administered in combination with checkpoint inhibitor therapies
and other immuno-modulators to increase effectiveness. We are
currently enrolling patients in our Phase 2 clinical trial for
non-small cell lung cancer, in combination with Bristol-Myers
Squibb's nivolumab (Opdivo®). We also have numerous pre-clinical
programs at various stages of development. For more information,
please visit www.heatbio.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
- Web
www.selexis.com
- LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/company/selexis-sa
- Twitter
www.twitter.com/SelexisSA
- Facebook
www.facebook.com/SelexisSA
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Media Inquiries for SelexisMike BeyerSam Brown Inc.+1
312-961-2502mikebeyer@sambrown.comorCompany Inquiries for
SelexisRobert MeisterHead, Corporate Communications+1
602-953-1716robert.meister@selexis.comorMedia and Investor
Inquiries for Pelican TherapeuticsMelissa CongerSenior
Director, Corporate Communications+ 1
919-289-4017mconger@heatbio.com
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