Agenus Advances Portfolio with 6 Clinical Collaborations
May 31 2022 - 8:30AM
Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology company with an
extensive pipeline of therapeutics designed to activate the immune
response to cancers and infections, today announced that it has
entered into 3 new clinical collaborations with Targovax, Oxford
BioTherapeutics, and Immunogenesis, doubling its current number of
clinical collaborations. These 6 collaborations span a range of
Agenus’ clinical assets, including botensilimab (Fc-enhanced
anti-CTLA-4), balstilimab (anti-PD-1), zalifrelimab (anti-CTLA-4),
and QS-21 STIMULON™.
Agenus is pursuing partnerships with companies developing agents
with complementary mechanisms, paving the way for promising
immunotherapy combinations to address immunosuppression in the
tumor microenvironment. The combination studies are being sponsored
and executed by our collaborators, with drug supply and scientific
support provided by Agenus. This strategy, enabled by in-house
integrated manufacturing and scientific capabilities, positions
Agenus to achieve the insights and advances needed to drive
development on accelerated timelines.
“These new collaborations with Targovax, Oxford BioTherapeutics,
and Immunogenesis are exciting next steps in our partnership
strategy to broaden combinations and indications under evaluation
with our immunomodulatory antibodies,” said Dr. Steven O’Day, Chief
Medical Officer at Agenus. “We believe these combinations may
unlock the power of immunotherapy more broadly, potentially
offering new and promising benefit to patients with
treatment-resistant solid tumors.”
Agenus’ new and ongoing clinical collaborations are supporting
and enabling:
- Targovax to
conduct a clinical trial combining botensilimab and balstilimab
with ONCOS-102 (oncolytic virus) in patients with PD-1
relapsed/refractory melanoma. ONCOS-102 is designed to
induce immune activation and immunogenic cell death to improve
response to immunotherapy.
- Oxford
BioTherapeutics to conduct a clinical trial combining balstilimab
with OBT076 (CD205-targeting antibody-drug
conjugate) in patients with solid tumors, including lung, gastric,
and ovarian cancer. OBT076 is expected to deplete CD205+
cancer cells, and immuno-suppressive cells within the tumor
microenvironment, leading to T cell activation and increased
response to immunotherapy.
- Immunogenesis to conduct a
clinical trial combining balstilimab and zalifrelimab with
evofosfamide (hypoxia-reversal agent) in patients with advanced
solid tumors, including prostate, pancreatic, HPV-negative head and
neck cancer. Evofosfamide is anticipated to reduce tumor
hypoxia and restore T cell infiltration and activity within the
tumor microenvironment, increasing responsiveness to checkpoint
therapy.
- Targovax to
conduct a clinical trial combining QS-21 STIMULON with TG01 (KRAS
vaccine) in up to 3 cancer indications, including multiple
myeloma. TG01 is designed to induce T cells that recognize
and destroy mut-RAS cancer cells; QS-21 STIMULON is expected to
improve immune cell recognition, activation, and TCR diversity of
the immune response.
- Rottapharm
Biotech is conducting a clinical trial combining balstilimab with
CR6086 (EP4 antagonist) in patients with pMMR-MSS colorectal
cancer. CR6086 is expected to inhibit the immune
suppressive role of prostaglandins in the tumor microenvironment,
improving immunogenicity and responsiveness to immunotherapy. The
Phase 1/2 study commenced in 2021.
- Nelum is
conducting a clinical trial combining zalifrelimab with NLM-001
(hedgehog inhibitor) and chemotherapy in patients with advanced
pancreatic cancer. NLM-001 in combination with
chemotherapy is anticipated to condition the tumor microenvironment
to improve T cell infiltration, activation, and responsiveness to
immunotherapy. The Phase 1/2 study commenced in 2021.
About AgenusAgenus is a clinical-stage
immuno-oncology company focused on the discovery and development of
therapies that engage the body's immune system to fight cancer. The
Company's vision is to expand the patient populations benefiting
from cancer immunotherapy by pursuing combination approaches that
leverage a broad repertoire of antibody therapeutics, adoptive cell
therapies (through its subsidiary MiNK Therapeutics), and adjuvants
(through its subsidiary SaponiQx). The Company is equipped with a
suite of antibody discovery platforms and a state-of-the-art GMP
manufacturing facility with the capacity to support clinical
programs. Agenus is headquartered in Lexington, MA. For more
information, please visit www.agenusbio.com and our Twitter handle
@agenus_bio. Information that may be important to investors will be
routinely posted on our website and Twitter.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release
contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws, including
statements relating to the use of therapeutic candidates
botensilimab, balstilimab, zalifrelimab, and QS-21 STIMULON, for
instance, statements regarding therapeutic benefit and efficacy,
mechanism of action, potency, durability, and safety profile of the
therapeutic candidates, both alone and in combination with each
other and/or other agents; future clinical and regulatory
development plans and commercialization plans for botensilimab,
balstilimab, zalifrelimab, and QS-21 STIMULON; and any other
statements containing the words "may," "believes," "expects,"
"anticipates," "hopes," "intends," "plans," "will" and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially.
These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the factors
described under the Risk Factors section of our most recent
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on our
website: www.agenusbio.com. Agenus cautions investors not to place
considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained
in this release. These statements speak only as of the date of this
press release, and Agenus undertakes no obligation to update or
revise the statements, other than to the extent required by law.
All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their
entirety by this cautionary statement.
Contact
Ethan Lovell, Chief External Affairs &
Communications OfficerAgenus
Inc.339-927-1763ethan.lovell@agenusbio.com
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