Gritstone Oncology Changes its Name to Gritstone bio to Reflect Expanded Therapeutic Focus
May 03 2021 - 8:00AM
Gritstone Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRTS), a clinical-stage
biotechnology company developing the next generation of cancer and
infectious disease immunotherapies, today announced it is changing
its name to Gritstone bio, Inc. effective immediately.
“Gritstone began its life with the goal of building a vaccine
platform that would drive strong CD8+ cytotoxic T cell responses to
cancer antigens in humans, a challenge that the cancer
immunotherapy field had struggled to meet,” said Andrew Allen,
M.D., Ph.D., co-founder, president and chief executive officer of
Gritstone. “Having successfully achieved that goal, and with Phase
2 cancer clinical trials underway, we broadened our scope to
address infectious diseases where vaccine induction of potent CD8+
T cell responses could complement the typically elicited
neutralizing antibodies, offering the prospect of robust and
durable clinical protection. This strategic extension was driven by
immediate needs to address the global pandemic, future needs given
the recurring emergence of novel viruses, and interest by industry
and government agencies to gain access to our cutting-edge
technologies.”
From inception in 2015 until 2020, the company’s activities were
focused on the development of novel neoantigen-based
immunotherapies for the treatment of patients with cancer. The
company’s Phase 2 oncology programs are GRANITE, an individualized
immunotherapy, and SLATE, an “off the shelf” but personalized
immunotherapy. In 2021, Gritstone launched a COVID-19 program
(“CORAL”) supported by collaborations with The Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation, the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, and the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part
of the National Institutes of Health. The Phase 1 CORAL clinical
trial, which is funded by NIAID and conducted through the
Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium, is underway. In
February 2021, the company also announced a collaboration agreement
with Gilead Sciences for the development of an HIV-specific
therapeutic vaccine using Gritstone’s vaccine platforms.
Karin Jooss, Ph.D., head of Research and Development at
Gritstone, added, “As innovative scientists, we are excited to
expand the application of our technologies beyond oncology into
additional relevant disease areas, informed by common biological
principles and validated by experimental data. As drug developers,
we are motivated by the opportunity to impact more patient lives
through the advancement of new, potentially life-saving
immunotherapies. We are pioneering the use of ‘chimeric antigen
cassettes’ whereby our vaccines contain whole genes/proteins to
drive antibody responses, as well as carefully selected gene
fragments that drive diverse CD8+ T cell responses. These two
elements, antibodies and CD8+ T cells, typically cooperate in
humans to drive deep, broad and durable immunity to pathogens, and
we are doing this in the context of COVID-19 to try to be ready for
future Spike variants that may escape narrow antibody immunity
conferred by first generation COVID-19 vaccines.”
About GritstoneGritstone bio
(Nasdaq: GRTS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, is
developing the next generation of immunotherapies against multiple
cancer types and infectious diseases. Gritstone develops its
products by leveraging two key pillars—first, a proprietary machine
learning-based platform, Gritstone EDGETM, which is designed to
predict antigens that are presented on the surface of cells, such
as tumor or virally-infected cells, that can be seen by the immune
system; and second, the ability to develop and manufacture potent
immunotherapies utilizing these antigens to potentially drive the
patient’s immune system to specifically attack and destroy
disease-causing cells. The company’s lead oncology programs include
an individualized neoantigen-based immunotherapy, GRANITE, and an
“off the shelf” shared neoantigen-based immunotherapy, SLATE, which
are being evaluated in clinical studies. The company also has a
bispecific antibody (BiSAb) program for solid tumors in lead
optimization. Within its infectious disease pipeline, Gritstone is
advancing CORAL, a COVID-19 program to develop a second-generation
vaccine with support from departments within the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and a license agreement with La Jolla Institute for
Immunology. Additionally, the company has a global collaboration
for the development of a therapeutic HIV vaccine with Gilead
Sciences. For more information, please visit gritstone.com.
Gritstone Forward-Looking
StatementsThis press release contains
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to,
statements related to the potential of our product candidates. Such
forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and
uncertainties that could cause Gritstone’s research and clinical
development programs, future results, performance or achievements
to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include,
among others, the uncertainties inherent in the drug development
process, including Gritstone’s programs’ early stage of
development, the process of designing and conducting preclinical
and clinical trials, the regulatory approval processes, the timing
of regulatory filings, the challenges associated with manufacturing
drug products, Gritstone’s ability to successfully establish,
protect and defend its intellectual property and other matters that
could affect the sufficiency of existing cash to fund operations.
Gritstone undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from
those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as
risks relating to the business of the company in general, see
Gritstone’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March
11, 2021 and any current and periodic reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Gritstone ContactsMedia:Dan Budwick1AB(973)
271-6085dan@1abmedia.com
Investors:Alexandra Santos Wheelhouse Life Science Advisors(510)
871-6161asantos@wheelhouselsa.com
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