Rubius Therapeutics Presents Preclinical Data for RTX-224, a Broad Immune Costimulatory Agonist, at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s Annual Meeting
November 12 2021 - 7:00AM
Rubius Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: RUBY), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company that is genetically engineering red blood
cells to create an entirely new class of cellular medicines called
Red Cell Therapeutics™ for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune
diseases, today announced the poster presentation of preclinical
data for RTX-224, a broad immune costimulatory agonist for the
treatment of cancer, at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s
(SITC) 36th Annual Meeting which is being held from November 10-14,
2021, in Washington, D.C., and virtually.
“The preclinical data presented at SITC indicate that RTX-224
stimulates both adaptive and innate immune responses, leading to an
antitumor effect in our surrogate models,” said Laurence Turka,
M.D., chief scientific officer and head of research &
translational medicine of Rubius Therapeutics. “Our preclinical
model of RTX-224 demonstrated significant activation of CD4+ T
cells, CD8+ T cells, antigen-presenting cells and NK cells as well
as potent anti-tumor activity in a melanoma model, giving us
confidence that RTX-224 may be an effective treatment for advanced
solid tumors. The U.S. FDA recently cleared our Investigational New
Drug application for RTX-224, and we expect to begin dosing
patients during the first quarter of 2022.”
Poster Title: RTX-224, An Engineered Allogeneic
Red Cell Therapeutic Expressing 4-1BBL and IL-12, Activates Immune
Cells in Blood and Spleen to Promote Tumor Growth Inhibition in
Mice
RTX-224 is an allogeneic cellular therapy product candidate that
is engineered to express hundreds of thousands of copies of 4-1BB
ligand (4-1BBL) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) on the cell surface.
RTX-224 is designed as a broad immune agonist of both adaptive and
innate responses, activating CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, promoting
antigen presentation and activating and expanding NK cells. It is
expected to produce a broad and potent anti-tumor T cell response,
an innate immune response and have anti-tumor activity in those
tumor types with known sensitivity to T cell killing, including
tumor types with high mutational burden, PD-L1 expression and prior
responsiveness to checkpoint inhibitors.
Data Summary
- The mouse surrogate of RTX-224, mRBC-224, demonstrated potent
anti-tumor activity in B16F10 melanoma models, intravenously and
subcutaneously, that was associated with pharmacodynamic changes in
the tumors, including activated CD8+ T cells, NK cells and
macrophages.
- mRBC-224 distributed mainly in the spleen of tumor-bearing mice
24 hours after one dose.
- mRBC-224 treatment in mice promoted activation of NK cells,
CD8+ T cells and monocytes/macrophages in the blood and spleen of
naïve and tumor-bearing mice.
- RTX‑224 (in vitro) and mRBC‑224 (in vivo) stimulate adaptive
(CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells) and innate (NK cells and
macrophages) immune responses.
- The combined enhancement of both adaptive and innate immune
responses leads to a productive antitumor response as demonstrated
in preclinical studies.
About Rubius TherapeuticsRubius Therapeutics is
a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class
of medicines called Red Cell Therapeutics™. The Company’s
proprietary RED PLATFORM® was designed to genetically engineer and
culture Red Cell Therapeutics™ that are selective, potent and
off-the-shelf allogeneic cellular therapies for the potential
treatment of several diseases across multiple therapeutic areas.
Rubius’ initial focus is to advance RCT™ product candidates for the
treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases by leveraging two
distinct therapeutic modalities — potent cell-cell interaction and
tolerance induction. Rubius Therapeutics was named among the
2020 Top Places to Work in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe, and
its manufacturing site was recently named 2021 Best
Places to Work in Rhode Island by Providence Business News.
For more information, visit www.rubiustx.com, follow us on Twitter
or LinkedIn or like us on Facebook.
Forward Looking Statements This press release
contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended,
including, without limitation, statements regarding our
expectations with respect to the therapeutic potential of our
pipeline of Red Cell Therapeutics™, including RTX-224, plans for
the SITC presentation, analyses of our preclinical data, including
the impact of RTX-224 on certain immune cells and anti-tumor
effects, beliefs that RTX-224 could be an effective treatment for
advanced solid tumors, expectations regarding dosing, expectations
for the potential for IL-12 and 4-1BB ligand to broadly induce an
immune response in patients and act as a bridge between the innate
and adaptive immune systems and the belief that the combined
enhancement of both adaptive and innate immune responses leads to a
productive antitumor response. The words “may,” “will,” “could,”
“would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,”
“believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,”
“continue,” “target” and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward-looking statements, although not all
forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any
forward-looking statements in this press release are based on
management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a
number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause
actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed
or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this
press release, including, without limitation, those risks and
uncertainties related to the development of our Red Cell
Therapeutic product candidates, including RTX-224, and their
therapeutic potential and other risks identified in our filings
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including
our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September
30, 2021, and subsequent filings with the SEC. We caution you not
to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date they are made. We disclaim any obligation
to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any
change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on
which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the
likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in
the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements
contained in this press release represent our views only as of the
date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing our views
as of any subsequent date. We explicitly disclaim any obligation to
update any forward-looking statements.
Contacts:
InvestorsElhan Webb, CFA, Vice President of
Investor Relationselhan.webb@rubiustx.com
Media Marissa Hanify, Director, Corporate
CommunicationsMarissa.hanify@rubiustx.com
Dan Budwick, 1AB+1 (973) 271-6085dan@1abmedia.com
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