On March 22, 2021 Enlivex Therapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq: ENLV, the "Company"), a clinical-stage macrophage reprogramming immunotherapy company targeting diseased macrophages in patients with sepsis, COVID-19 and solid tumors, together with Yale Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, reported a research collaboration for the assessment of the potential of Allocetra to enhance the activity of checkpoint inhibitors in solid tumors (Press release, Enlivex Therapeutics, MAR 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234576961]). Allocetra is a macrophage-reprogramming immunotherapy product candidate currently in clinical development by Enlivex, as, among other things, a potential therapy in combination with approved immune checkpoint inhibitors for hard-to-treat solid tumors.
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Under the strategic collaboration, the parties intend to develop and execute pre-clinical programs to investigate the potential synergies between Allocetra and commercially-approved checkpoint inhibitor therapies for select solid cancers.
The Principal Investigator for this collaboration is Dr. Vish Muthusamy, PhD, Director of the Yale Center for Precision Cancer Modeling. Dr. Muthusamy is a cancer biologist with expertise in preclinical investigation of candidate cancer therapies. His center has developed in vivo tumor models to investigate pharmacological evaluation of drugs. Recently, Dr. Muthusamy worked in close collaboration several academic investigators and pharmaceutical companies to develop cancer therapeutics that are in various stages of clinical development. The collaboration’s scientific advisor is Dr. Marcus W. Bosenberg, MD, PhD, Co-Leader of the Genomics, Genetics and Epigenetics Program at Yale Cancer Center. On behalf of the Yale team, Dr. Bosenberg said "At Yale we have been interested in trying to understand the process of macrophage reprogramming for some time, and we are excited about studying the effects of Allocetra in potentially recruiting anti-tumor macrophages in the tumor environment and characterize the effects."
Dror Mevorach, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Enlivex, commented, "We are excited to collaborate with the distinguished research and clinical teams at Yale. Allocetra may have a rebalancing effect on the typically immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, potentially by facilitating the conversion of pro-tumor macrophage populations to anti-tumor populations. Together, we plan to investigate the potential of AllocetraTM to synergistically combine with commercially available checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of solid tumors."
Oren Hershkovitz, Ph.D., CEO of Enlivex, stated, "We believe the researchers and clinicians at Yale are world-class and ideal partners as we work to realize Allocetra’s potential. We are pleased to formulate a strategic collaboration with Yale for the development of Allocetra as a potentially key component of combination therapies for solid tumors."
Allocetra is currently in clinical development for acute life-threatening immune-mediated diseases, such as sepsis and COVID-19. Enlivex recently reported positive top-line results in 21 patients from Phase Ib and Phase II investigator-initiated trials in COVID-19 patients in severe/critical condition. The Company has also previously reported positive results from a Phase Ib investigator-initiated trial in 10 sepsis patients and plans to initiate a controlled, randomized, Phase IIb study in sepsis during the first quarter of 2021.