Vancouver, BC, Canada -- November 30th 2021 -- InvestorsHub
NewsWire -- Defence Therapeutics Inc. (CSE:
DTC; FSE: DTC; USOTC:
DTCFF) ("Defence" or the "Company"), is a publicly-traded
biotechnology company working on engineering the next generation
vaccines, Antibody Drug Conjugates, ADC products, and cancer
therapeutics using its proprietary AccumTM platform. The core
of Defence Therapeutics platform is its AccumTM technology, which
enables precision delivery of proteins of pharmacological interest
to target cells and increases the intracellular accumulation to
these targeted cells. As a result, increased efficacy and potency
can be reached against catastrophic illness such as cancer and
infectious diseases. With four new patents filed over the last
year, Defence is providing increased company IP with its
technologies. Defence's research activities conducted over the last
year along with future clinical plans to prove validation is
ongoing.
Development of the core Technology
The Company's core technological research is based around
addressing a major and common challenge in both the vaccine and
antibody drug conjugates ("ADCs") fields limiting their efficacy.
When the target cell binds and internalizes an antigen or an ADC,
the complex is entrapped inside intracellular small vesicles named
endosomes. Ultimately, these endosomes undergo maturation
consequently leading to their degradation prior to eliciting their
respective role/function. The Company's goal is to use the AccumTM
enhancer formulation to improve intracellular delivery of
biological therapeutic agents by inducing their escape to the
cytosol consequently improving their therapeutic efficacy.
Effective Cellular Vaccine Design
The AccumTM technology is highly suitable to the vaccination
field. More specifically, antigens that are normally captured by
dendritic cells ("DCs") - the best antigen-presenting cells present
in our body- are first entrapped in endosomes. While maturation of
these endosomal organelles occurs, the pH decreases (becomes acidic
?4-5) in order to trigger the activation of specific enzymes as a
means to initiate non-specific antigen degradation. As a result,
the generated fragments can then pass-through endosomal pores to
reach the cytoplasm where specific antigen degradation takes place
by the proteasomal machinery. Although this process occurs
naturally, the generated antigen fragments are often damaged, which
renders them unsuitable for optimal immune stimulation. By using
the AccumTM technology, captured antigens are preserved in their
natural conformation while being delivered to the cytoplasm. As
such, proteasomal degradation ends-up leading to a higher number of
immunogenic and stable peptides presented at the surface of DCs and
capable of eliciting potent T-cell
activation.
Research conducted by the Company has found that the addition of
Accum-linked antigens to allogeneic DCs (AccuVAC-D001) enhances the
therapeutic efficacy of the vaccine leading to a survival rate of
70-80% in contrast to 0-20% obtained with current experimental
DC-based vaccines. With the completion of such study, Defence has
signed an agreement with a Canadian-based clean room to initiate
dry runs of its DC vaccine. The objective is to complete all needed
GLP studies by Q1 2022 and initiate a Phase I trial against
melanoma in the UK by mid 2022.
The development of protein-based vaccines for
infectious diseases (COVID and HPV)
In parallel, the Company has already completed all pre-clinical
work related to its COVID-19 vaccines. The first vaccine
(DTC-PT001) is an injectable formulation delivered with an
FDA-approved adjuvant. Generated data demonstrated potent and
sustainable production of IgG titers (over 16 weeks), which was
also highly reactive against all tested variants. In addition, the
immunogenicity of the vaccine was highly comparable between rodent
(mice) and non-rodent (rabbit) models. Furthermore, vaccination of
hamsters (third model - GLP study) followed by viral challenge
showed potent protection with no noted side effects.
The second vaccine formulation (DTC-IN003) is a
transmission-blocking vaccine designed to halt infection as opposed
to lowering the pathophysiology of the virus. In this case, the
vaccine is delivered intranasally with a special adjuvant (designed
for intranasal vaccination). This vaccine not only triggered the
production of IgAs at mucosal sites (entry site of the virus), but
systemic immunity was also observed and generated antibodies
cross-reacted with all tested variants. A GLP challenge study is
currently ongoing with final data to be obtained by the end of
December 2021.
Another infectious disease vaccine in development at Defence
Therapeutics is AccuVAC-PT009 targeting HPV. This vaccine is using
a mixture of L1 proteins (derived from different HPV strains)
linked to AccumTM and tested for their ability to confer protective
antibodies against the HPV virus. The potency of the AccuVAC-PT009
vaccine will be compared to the commercially available Gardasil-9
vaccine in terms of its immunogenicity (prophylactic vaccine). In
addition, Defence is working on a second HPV-related vaccine but
targeting cervical cancer (AccuVAC-PT0067). The objective of this
vaccine is to modify both E6 and E7 proteins to covalently link
AccumTM then test the vaccine for its ability to treat
pre-established cervical cancer. Results of the pre-clinical
studies will be available by early 2022.
Effective Design of ADCs
One challenge posed by ADCs is insufficient intracellular
accumulation of the delivered chemotherapeutic necessary for potent
tumor killing. Defence has demonstrated that the AccumTM technology
enhances the ability of ADC Kadcyla (T-DM1) to specifically kill
breast cancer cells. AccumTM improved the escape of ADC Kadcyla
from endosomes while targeting the nucleus. Defence believes that
the AccumTM technology will be able to increase T-DM1 effectiveness
enabling the treatment to overcome resistance mechanisms such as
reducing the number of cell surface receptors, therefore limiting
the potency and delivery of T-DM1 inside the cell. The Company has
formed a strategic collaboration with two European institutions to
further develop its Accum-ADCs platform.
The AccuTOX Program
The AccumTM technology platform is very efficient at enhancing
intracellular delivery of proteins of pharmacological interests
such as vaccine antigens or ADCs. However, a novel anti-cancer
function was recently discovered for "free" AccumTM. More
specifically, when directly delivered without direct linking onto
protein, the AccumTM moiety behaves as a toxic "silver bullet" to
cancer cells. So far, the Defence team has engineered and tested a
large library of AccumTM variants and identified a lead molecule
capable of killing breast, colon, melanoma and lymphoma cancers. A
GLP study is currently ongoing with final results expected by the
end of 2021 with plan to initiate a Phase I trial against breast
cancer in Q2 of 2022.
About Defence:
Defence Therapeutics is a publicly-traded biotechnology company
working on engineering the next generation vaccines and ADC
products using its proprietary platform. The core of Defence
Therapeutics platform is the ACCUMTM technology, which enables
precision delivery of vaccine antigens or ADCs in their intact form
to target cells. As a result, increased efficacy and potency can be
reached against catastrophic illness such as cancer and infectious
diseases.
For further information:
Sebastien Plouffe, President, CEO and Director
P: (514) 947-2272
Splouffe@defencetherapeutics.com
www.defencetherapeutics.com
Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking"
Information
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed
"forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other
than statements of historical facts, that address events or
developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not
historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by
the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends",
"estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or
that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or
"should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations
expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of
future performance and actual results may differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause
the actual results to differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market
prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and
general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are
cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results or developments may differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and
opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are
made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company
undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements
in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or
other factors, should change.
Neither the CSE nor its market regulator, as that term is
defined in the policies of the CSE, accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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