TIDMPRTC
PureTech Health PLC
11 August 2016
11 August 2016
PureTech Health plc
PureTech's Vedanta Biosciences Announces Collaboration with the
NYU Langone Medical Center to Develop Microbiome-Derived
Immunotherapies for Cancer
PureTech Health plc ("PureTech", LSE: PRTC), a
cross-disciplinary biotech company developing 21(st) century
medicines in and at the interface of the brain, gut and immune
system, is pleased to note that Vedanta Biosciences has entered
into a translational collaboration with the NYU Langone Medical
Center focused on developing microbiome-derived immunotherapies for
cancer patients being treated with checkpoint inhibitors. The
collaboration seeks to leverage Vedanta's portfolio of immune
activating microbial cocktails for use in standalone immunotherapy
and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors.
Daphne Zohar, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at
PureTech, said: "Recent studies have highlighted the role of the
microbiome in immuno-oncology, and it's exciting to work with Dr.
Weber and the NYU Langone Medical Center to expand Vedanta's
pipeline of immune-boosting microbiome derived therapeutics and
checkpoint inhibitor combinations."
The full text of the announcement from Vedanta is as
follows:
Vedanta Biosciences Announces Collaboration with the NYU Langone
Medical Center to Develop Microbiome-Derived Immunotherapies for
Cancer
Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 11, 2016 - Vedanta Biosciences,
pioneering the development of a novel class of therapies designed
to modulate pathways of interaction between the human microbiome
and the host immune system, today announced that it has entered
into a translational collaboration with the NYU Langone Medical
Center focused on developing novel microbiome-derived
immunotherapies for cancer patients being treated with checkpoint
inhibitors.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vedanta will collaborate with
a group of oncologists led by Jeffrey S. Weber, M.D., Ph.D., deputy
director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU
Langone and a renowned melanoma and immunotherapy expert, on
clinical studies to support the identification of new microbiome
immunotherapies for cancer. The studies will also explore
mechanisms by which the gut microbiome influences the efficacy of
checkpoint inhibitors in cancer patients. Recent research published
in Cell by Vedanta co-founder Dr. Kenya Honda at Keio University,
has suggested that human-dwelling bacterial strains can activate
immune cells in the gut that could be harnessed for
immunotherapies. Vedanta has a worldwide, exclusive licence to IP
covering Dr. Honda's discovery. Other findings in the field
indicate that gut bacteria can potentially modulate the therapeutic
responses to checkpoint blockades, as well as other classes of
cancer therapeutics.
"Dr. Weber is a pioneer in translational research, particularly
in immunotherapy and the development of checkpoint inhibitors,"
said Dr. Bruce Roberts, Chief Scientific Officer of Vedanta. "We
look forward to working with Dr. Weber to expand Vedanta's
portfolio of immune activating microbial cocktails for use in
standalone immunotherapy and in combination with checkpoint
inhibitors."
"Checkpoint inhibitors are a major advance in cancer therapy,
but many patients do not respond to therapy, and some patients who
respond will eventually relapse," said Dr. Weber. "Recent data
suggest an important role for the microbiome in the anti-tumour
activity of immunotherapy, and our other studies of the microbiome
will offer interesting new clinical insights into how and why these
treatments work. Further understanding of the role of the
microbiome in immunotherapeutic responses against cancer may also
lead to new and improved therapies."
About Vedanta
Vedanta Biosciences is pioneering development of a novel class
of therapies designed to modulate pathways of interaction between
the human microbiome and the host immune system, with clinical
trials in certain indications expected to begin in the first half
of 2017. Founded by PureTech Health (PureTech Health plc, PRTC.L)
and a group of world-renowned experts in immunology and
microbiology, Vedanta Biosciences is a leader in the microbiome
field with capabilities to discover, develop and manufacture drugs
based on live commensal microbes. Leveraging its proprietary
technology platform and the expertise of its team of scientific
cofounders, Vedanta Biosciences has isolated a vast collection of
human-associated bacterial strains and characterised how the immune
system recognises and responds to these microbes. This work has led
to the identification of human commensal bacteria that induce a
range of immune responses - including induction of regulatory T
cells and Th17 cells, among others - as well as the
characterisation of novel molecular mechanisms of microbial-host
communication. These advances have been published in leading
peer-reviewed journals including Science, Nature (multiple), Cell
and Nature Immunology. Vedanta has harnessed these biological
insights as well as data from clinical translational collaborations
to generate a pipeline of programs in development for infectious
disease, autoimmune disease, inflammation and immune-oncology. The
clinical potential of therapeutic manipulation of the microbiome
has been validated by multiple randomized, controlled trials in
infectious disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
Vedanta's scientific co-founders have pioneered the fields of
innate immunity, Th17 and regulatory T cell biology, and include
Dr. Ruslan Medzhitov (Professor of Immunobiology at Yale), Dr.
Alexander Rudensky (tri-institutional Professor at the Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Institute, the Rockefeller University and Cornell
University), Dr. Dan Littman (Professor of Molecular Immunology at
NYU), Dr. Brett Finlay (Professor at the University of British
Columbia) and Dr. Kenya Honda (Professor, School of Medicine, Keio
University).
PureTech Health plc (PRTC.L) owns 75.4% of the company on a
diluted basis as of 6 June 2016. This calculation includes issued
and outstanding shares as well as options to purchase shares and
written commitments to issue shares or options, but excludes
unallocated shares authorised to be issued pursuant to equity
incentive plans.
About PureTech Health
PureTech Health (PureTech Health plc, PRTC.L) is a
cross-disciplinary biotech company focused on areas of growing
scientific and technical insights that it believes are at an
important inflection point, including the central nervous,
gastro-intestinal and immune systems, and the interactions and
signalling between them. PureTech has approximately 20 clinical
studies across its pipeline targeting multi-billion dollar market
opportunities, including five human proof-of-concept studies and
multiple pivotal or registration study readouts expected in the
next two years. While inevitably some technologies will not advance
to commercialisation, PureTech's approach mitigates risk as most of
the cash resides on a PureTech parent company level, allowing
PureTech to build value and divert cash to its most successful
programmes as milestones are achieved. PureTech has over 220
patents and patent applications. PureTech's leading team and board,
along with an advisory network of more than 60 expert
founder-scientists and advisors across multiple disciplines, gives
PureTech access to potentially ground-breaking science and
technological innovation. With healthcare undergoing major
transformation, PureTech believes it is well positioned to develop
and launch medicines for the 21st century. For more information,
visit www.puretechhealth.com and connect with us on Twitter.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains statements that are or may be
forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the
company's future prospects, developments and strategies. The
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and
are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ
materially from current expectations, including, but not limited
to, those risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors
included in the regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc. These
forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the
present and future business strategies of the company and the
environment in which it will operate in the future. Each
forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press
release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements,
neither the company nor any other party intends to update or revise
these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Enquiries
PureTech
Allison Mead, Director, Communications +1 617 651
and Investor Relations 3156
FTI Consulting (Communications adviser
to PureTech)
Ben Atwell +44 (0) 20
Matthew Cole 3727 1000
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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August 11, 2016 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)
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