On April 17, 2023 Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent") (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and commercializes high quality medicines for the treatment of oncology, autoimmune, metabolic, ophthalmology and other major diseases, reported the updated results of IBI351 (GFH925) (KRASG12C inhibitor) from a phase 1 clinical trial (NCT05005234) in an oral presentation at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting (Press release, Innovent Biologics, APR 17, 2023, View Source [SID1234630188]).

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Topic: Phase I study of IBI351 (GFH925) monotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumors: updated results
Main Researcher: Prof. Qing Zhou, Prof. Yi-Long Wu, Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital
Abstract Number: CT030
Presentation Date/Time: Monday Apr 17, 2023 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM

IBI351(GFH925) is a novel, irreversible covalent inhibitor of KRASG12C mutation. The NCT05005234 study presented was a first-in-human study conducted in China to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of IBI351 monotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumors who failed or intolerant to standard of care treatment. As data cutoff date (30 November 2022), 74 subjects were enrolled in the study, including 67 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), 6 colorectal cancer (CRC) and 1 pancreatic cancer. In the presentation, we updated safety and efficacy of NSCLC subjects. Approximately 38.8% of NSCLC patients had brain metastases at baseline. The highlights of the study results were as follows:

As of February 10, 2023, of the 67 evaluable NSCLC patients, 41 achieved partial response (PR), with investigator assessed ORR 61.2% and DCR 92.5%. Most patients remained on treatment.
Of 30 patients with NSCLC treated at 600mg BID (the recommended phase 2 dose), better efficacy signal was observed, with investigator assessed ORR 66.7% (confirmed ORR 53.3%) and DCR 96.7%. The mDOR was not reached yet, the 6m DoR rate was 74.5%（95% CI, 39.8-91.7）. The mPFS was 8.2m (PFS events 46.7%), the data is immature yet. The 6m and 9m PFS rate were 58.9%（95% CI, 39.0-74.3） and 47.3%（95% CI, 26.1-65.8, respectively, with a median follow-up of 8.1 months.
As of 30 November 2022, IBI351 was well tolerated. No DLT was reported and MTD was not reached. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) occurred in 94.0% (63/67) patients and the most common TRAEs were anemia, pruritus, transferase increased, asthenia, protein urine present and bilirubin increased. The majority of the TRAEs were grade 1-2 with 31.3% of patients reporting ≥grade 3 TRAEs. There were no TRAEs led to treatment discontinuation or death.
Favorable safety and tolerability and promising antitumor activity of IBI351 monotherapy were observed in previously-treated advanced NSCLC harboring KRASG12C mutation. A single-arm registrational trial of IBI351 monotherapy in previously-treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer is ongoing.

Professor Yi-Long Wu from Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, stated: "KRAS mutation as the "undruggable" target for decades has become one of the most popular direction for clinical development recently. IBI351 is a novel, irreversible covalent inhibitor of KRASG12C mutation, whose preliminary data of safety and efficacy was reported at 2022 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) and CSCO. The update data shows the favorable safety and promising activity of IBI351 (GFH925) monotherapy in KRAS G12C mutated advanced NSCLC. Median duration of response (DOR) was not reached and the data of median progression free survival (PFS) was immature. We look forward to more positive clinical data from this study. "

Dr. Hui Zhou, Senior Vice President of Innovent, stated: "We are pleased to present our clinical development updates at the 2023 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper), and that IBI351 monotherapy demonstrated encouraging efficacy and safety data in phase I study. A single-arm registrational trial of IBI351 monotherapy in previously-treated advanced NSCLC is ongoing. We are working to advance into late stage clinical development to explore the potential of IBI351 as monotherapy and in combo-therapy. We are actively exploring next-generation cancer therapies, hoping to benefit more cancer patients."

About IBI351/GFH925 (KRASG12C Inhibitor)

Discovered by GenFleet Therapeutics, GFH925 (Innovent R&D code: IBI351) is a novel, orally active, potent KRASG12C inhibitor designed to effectively target the GTP/GDP exchange, an essential step in pathway activation, by modifying the cysteine residue of KRASG12C protein covalently and irreversibly. Preclinical cysteine selectivity studies demonstrated high selectivity of IBI351 towards G12C. Subsequently, IBI351 effectively inhibits the downstream signal pathway to induce tumor cells’ apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. In September 2021, Innovent and GenFleet Therapeutics entered into an exclusive license agreement for the development and commercialization of IBI351 in China (including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) with additional option-in rights for global development and commercialization.

On April 17, 2023 Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. ("Oncotelic", "We" or the "Company") (OTCQB:OTLC) reported summary of its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2022 ("FY 2022") as compared to the prior year ended December 31, 2021 ("FY 2021") (Press release, Oncotelic, APR 17, 2023, View Source [SID1234630187]). We are also providing updates on our product and therapeutic development initiatives and other corporate matters. The financial results are based on the 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 14, 2023.

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FY 2022 compared to FY 2021 Financial Results Overview

ONCOTELIC THERAPEUTICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31

2022 2021 Variance
Operating expense:
Research and development $ 756,910 $ 3,658,617 $ (2,901,707 )
General and administrative 4,853,664 5,467,266 (613,602 )
Goodwill impairment 4,111,079 - 4,111,079
Total operating expense 9,721,653 9,125,883 (595.770 )
Loss from operations (9,721,653 ) (9,125,883 ) 595,770
Interest expense, net (2,971,046 ) (2,002,813 ) (968,233 )
PPP loan forgiveness - 346,761 (346,761 )
Reimbursement for expenses – related party 533,485 - 533,485
Gain on derecognition of non-financial asset 16,951,477 - 16,951,477
Loss on debt conversion (257,810 ) (27,504 ) (230,306 )
Change in the value of derivatives on debt 142,150 292,149 (149,999 )
Net income (loss) before controlling interests $ 4,676,603 $ (10,517,290 ) $ 15,193,894
Net Income (Loss)

We recorded net income of approximately $4.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to a loss of approximately $10.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, resulting in a reduced loss of approximately $15.2 million. Factors contributing to our decreased loss are described below.

Research and Development Expense

Research and Development ("R&D") expenses declined by over $2.9 million, to approximately $0.76 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to approximately $3.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The primary reason for the decreased R&D activities cost is a reduction in clinical trial costs of $1.8 million, for the trials for OT-101 and Artemisinin, a reduction in compensation costs of approximately $1 million and $0.2 million decrease in operational costs as these costs have been borne by our JV.

General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative ("G&A") expenses decreased by approximately $0.6 million, from approximately $4.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to approximately $5.4 million for the same period of 2021. The primary causes for the decline in G&A expenses was due to reduced compensation costs of approximately $0.8 million and a decrease in legal and professional costs of approximately $0.5 million, offset by an increase of around $0.7 million in non-cash stock-compensation expenses.

Having established the joint venture with GMP Bio, we can now transfer the responsibility for our drug development program, related to OT-101, as well as some or most of our G&A expenses, to GMP Bio.

We do anticipate increasing R&D activities related to apomorphine, the initiation of new clinical trials for our other oncology indications, continuing or expanding on our clinical trials and development of some of our AI based tools and applications for OT-101 and Artemisinin for COVID-19 and other epidemics. As a result, R&D expenses might increase in the future, contingent on our ability to secure sufficient funding to continue planned development operations. In a similar vein, while we may be able to transfer some or most of the responsibility of our G&A expenses to GMP Bio, G&A expenses could increase due to other corporate activities and will be subject to our continuing ability to secure sufficient funding to maintain planned operations.

Goodwill Impairment

We recorded a goodwill impairment of approximately $4.1 million on the approximately $16.2 million goodwill, which we recorded upon our acquisition of PointR, for the year ended December 31, 2022. No similar impairment was recorded for the same period of 2021.

In the third and fourth quarters of 2022, we observed a steep decline of our stock price, the market capitalization of our Company, and the general economic conditions, which adversely impacted the majority of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. These factors indicated a potential impairment to our goodwill. Although we assessed and determined that the AI technologies assets related to the PointR acquisition were not adversely impacted, and the Company continues to develop other newer AI technologies, the substantial reduction of our market capitalization compelled us to record an impairment on the goodwill to the extent of the difference between the net assets of the Company over the fair value based on the market capitalization. This is in accordance with US GAAP and other authoritative accounting literature.

Interest Expense

We recorded interest expense, comprising amortization of debt costs, amounting to approximately $3.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, related to debt raised from the various convertible notes and a private placement memorandum as compared to $2.0 million on convertible notes and a portion of the private placement memorandum for the same period of 2021.

PPP Loan Forgiveness

For the year ended December 31, 2021, we recorded a PPP Loan Forgiveness of approximately $0.35 million. No comparable forgiveness was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2022.

Reimbursement of expenses

During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company was reimbursed approximately $0.5 million, by Autotelic Inc. a related party, for expenses incurred by the Company on behalf of our JV. No comparable reimbursement was made during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Gain on derecognition of non-financial Asset

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded a gain of approximately $16.9 million on the sale of our non-financial asset, OT-101, as our capital contribution to GMP Bio. We adopted fair value measurements, under the equity method, and the gain was net of the asset’s fair value of approximately $22.6 million, reduced by the intangibles’ value of approximately $0.8 million for OT-101 and goodwill value of approximately $4.9 million recorded during the 2019 Merger with Oncotelic Inc. No comparable gain was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Loss on Conversion of Debt

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded a loss on conversion of debt of approximately $0.3 million, attributable to the difference in fair value compared to the price at which the debt was converted. We recorded a similar loss of $28 thousand for the debt conversion by Peak One and TFK in 2021.

Change in value of derivatives

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded a gain of $0.1 million due to the change in value of derivatives on the notes issued to our CEO and the bridge investors. Correspondingly, during the year concluded December 31, 2021, we recorded a gain of $0.3 million due to the change in value of derivatives on the notes issued to our CEO and the bridge investors.

Liquidity, Financial Condition and Capital Resources ($s in ‘000’s)

December 31, 2022 December 31, 2021
Cash, including restricted cash $ 261 $ 589
Working capital (16,620 ) (14,828 )
Stockholders’ Equity 19,193 8,158
The Company has incurred net losses every year since inception and as of December 31, 2022, had an accumulated deficit of approximately $25.933 million, which includes approximately $4.1 million goodwill impairment recorded during the fourth quarter of 2022. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had approximately $0.3 million in cash and current liabilities of approximately $16.9 million, with approximately $1.3 million being net assumed liabilities of the Company as part of the Oncotelic Inc. reverse merger, $4.1 million of debt for conducting clinical trials for OT-101 from GMP and $2.6 million in contingent liability to issue common shares to PointR shareholders upon achievement of certain specific milestones.

For more information on our financial condition, please refer to our 2022 Annual Report on form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 14, 2023.

Cash Flows ($s in ‘000s)

Year ended December 31,
2022 2021
Net cash used in operating activities $ (1,453 ) $ (4,434 )
Net cash provided by financing activities 1,125 4,529
Increase/ (decrease) in cash $ (327 ) $ 95
Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities totaled approximately $1.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The net income of approximately $4.7 million primarily decreased by approximately $17 million due to a non-cash gain recorded upon derecognition of our non-financial assets and approximately $0.1 million resulting from a change in fair value of derivatives. Net cash mainly increased by approximately $4.1 million due to goodwill impairment, approximately $2.0 million of amortization of debt and finance discounts, approximately $2.9 million of non-cash stock-based expense on issuance of warrants, approximately $0.9 million of stock compensation, approximately $0.3 million of loss on conversion of debt and approximately $0.8 million due to changes in operating assets and liabilities.

Financing Activities

For the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash provided by financing activities was approximately $1.1 million. Net cash provided was due to approximately $0.2 million raised from sale of common stock under the equity purchase agreement with Peak One and approximately $1.0 million raised through issuance of convertible debt.

2022 Business Highlights

In 2022 and continuing in the first quarter of 2023, the Company has made significant progress in various areas. This included the initiation of several clinical trials, in a wide range of indications, such as pancreatic cancer, melanoma, and mesothelioma. The Company also attended and participated in over ten different conferences and events during 2022 and made presentations at several. In April, we completed our much-anticipated joint venture ("JV"), GMP Biotechnology Limited ("GMP Bio"), with Dragon Overseas Capital Limited ("Dragon Overseas"). In October 2022, we established the animal health division for the Company, which led to the formation of Pet2DAO, Inc. The Company was also awarded funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority ("BARDA") for the development of OT-101 for long COVID-19. The award was under the EZ-BAA funding program. We were awarded up to $750,000, the maximum award under the EZ-BAA program.

Highlights post close of FYE 2022:

"FY 2022 was a challenging yet exciting year for all of us at Oncotelic," said Amit Shah, CFO of Oncotelic. "We anticipate FY 2023 to be even more exciting, with the completion and the evolution of our JV, enabling the rapid development of the OT-101 asset. Moving forward, with the Company’s cash requirement significantly reduced due to offloading the development and commercialization costs related to OT-101, as well as a considerable portion of our G&A expenses, we anticipate a substantial decrease in our operational expenses related to OT-101. However, this does not include any funds we may have to raise to develop our other products and G&A expenses related to the Company. We are also evaluating and considering uplisting the Company to a national stock exchange to complete the corporate turnaround."

Additional information is included in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed on April 14, 2023, a copy of which is available free of charge at View Source

Recent Corporate Update

In November 2022, the Company established a Decentralized Autonomous Organization ("DAO") entity, Pet2DAO, Inc. ("Pet2DAO"), as a wholly owned subsidiary. A DAO is an emerging legal structure, with no central governing body, where members share a common goal to act in the entity’s best interest. Pet2DAO is a DAO technology company, combining traditional corporate governance with innovative DAO architecture. The Company aims to engage stakeholders, build value through the DAO, and maintain traditional corporate rigor, including governance, compliance, and accountability by bringing together public company veterans and innovators in AI, blockchain and Web3. The Company will issue regular tokens and non-fungible tokens ("NFT" and collectively "Tokens") of Pet2DAO, called PDAO, to its employees, shareholders and key opinion leaders ("KOLs’), using the Tokens to propose and vote on various programs. In the future, the Company intends to register these tokens with the SEC to enable free trading at a later date. Additionally, in April 2023, we announced that eligible shareholders could claim PDAO tokens to participate in the subsidiary to make proposals and vote on such proposals. Eligible shareholders have 4 months from April 1st, 2023, until July 31, 2023, to claim the Tokens, with 1 PDAO Token issued for every 2,000 Company shares owned by the shareholder as of April 1st, 2023. As previously announced, no fractional Tokens will be issued. For instance, a shareholder owning 4,500 OTLC shares on April 1st, 2023, would receive 2 PDAO Tokens.

Recent Product Development Highlights

In January 2023, we announced the submission of a clinical study protocol to the US Food and Drug Administration ("US FDA") for initiating a Phase 2b/3 Trial (designated "P201") for OT-101, the Company’s transforming growth factor beta 2 ("TGF-β2") inhibitor, as a treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer. This study will be funded by our JV. The study is titled P201: A Randomized Phase 2b/Phase 3 Study of the TGF-β2 Targeting Antisense Oligonucleotide OT-101 in Combination with FOLFOX Compared with FOLFOX Alone as Second-Line Therapy in Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer that has Progressed During or Following a First-Line Gemcitabine-Containing Regimen.

In February 2023, we announced the initiation of a second investigator initiated study (IIS) in a series of planned clinical studies. This study will also be funded by our JV. We submitted a protocol, to the US FDA, for a study with approximately 30 patients with non-small cell lung cancer in collaboration with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and a large pharmaceutical company in the field of immuno-oncology. The study will combine our oligodeoxynucleotide OT-101 and a US FDA approved anti-PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor.

With these two studies, we now have a total of four planned studies, including two that were planned in 2022, for pediatric gliomas and mesothelioma. We continue to work on planning up to 10 studies, including both IIS and our own studies. In addition to these studies, we have a program with BARDA to conduct a study for long COVID-19, related to OT-101 based on our clinical trial in South America.

On April 17, 2023 Agenus Inc. (Nasdaq: AGEN), a leading immuno-oncology company specializing in immunological agents for cancer and infectious diseases, reported that it has been granted Fast Track Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the investigation of the combination of botensilimab (AGEN1181) and balstilimab (AGEN2034) (Press release, Agenus, APR 17, 2023, View Source [SID1234630186]). The designation is for patients with non-microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H)/deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer with no active liver involvement. Patients targeted with this designation are heavily pretreated are resistant or intolerant to a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan, and who have also received a VEGF inhibitor, an EGFR inhibitor and/or a BRAF inhibitor, if indicated. The company is conducting a global, randomized Phase 2 trial of botensilimab in combination with balstilimab compared to standard of care in non-microsatellite instability-high (non-MSI-H) colorectal cancer patients.

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"We are pleased that the FDA has granted Fast Track designation for the combination of botensilimab with balstilimab in patients with non-MSI-H colorectal cancer, recognizing the high unmet medical need in this population," said Dr. Steven O’Day, Chief Medical Officer of Agenus. "The Fast Track designation offers important benefits, including the potential eligibility for a Priority Review, and we will be working with the FDA and all key stakeholders to rapidly advance the botensilimab/balstilimab combination in colorectal cancer as well as other solid tumor indications."

During the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) – Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January 2023, Agenus presented positive results from its ongoing clinical trials of the botensilimab/balstilimab combination in patients with non-MSI-H colorectal cancer. The combination therapy showed an overall response rate of 23% and a 12-month survival rate of 63%, which compares to very limited activity of 1-2% overall response rate and ~25% 12-month survival rate reported for the standard of care. Responses to the botensilimab/balstilimab therapy have been durable, with 69% ongoing at data cut-off, and median overall survival not reached.

About Botensilimab
Botensilimab is a novel, multifunctional CTLA-4 investigational antibody that has been designed to extend clinical benefits to "cold" tumors that have not historically responded to standard of care or investigational therapies. In addition to binding to the CTLA-4 receptor, its Fc-enhanced structure induces a memory immune response, downregulates regulatory T cells, and delivers better priming and activation of T cells, thereby amplifying immune responses.

In a Phase 1b clinical study of more than 350 patients, botensilimab has demonstrated clinical responses in nine, previously IO unresponsive, solid tumor cancers, either alone or in combination with Agenus’ PD-1 antibody, balstilimab (data presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) GI 2023, SGO 2023, CTOS 2022, SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) 2022). Agenus is conducting global, randomized Phase 2 trials in non-MSI-H colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and melanoma as part of its ACTIVATE trial programs. Additional information about these botensilimab trials can be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov under the identifiers NCT05608044, NCT05630183, and NCT05529316, respectively. A global Phase 3 trial in non-MSI-H CRC is expected to launch in 2023.

On April 17, 2023 aTyr Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIFE), a biotherapeutics company engaged in the discovery and development of first-in-class medicines from its proprietary tRNA synthetase platform, reported a poster presentation at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, which is being held April 14 – 19, 2023, in Orlando, FL (Press release, aTyr Pharma, APR 17, 2023, View Source [SID1234630185]). The abstract is available on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) website. The poster will be available on the aTyr website once presented.

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The poster presents preclinical findings characterizing the inhibition of tumor growth and therapy resistance in aggressive cancers overexpressing VEGF-C treated with ATYR2810, a fully humanized monoclonal antibody that selectively and functionally blocks neuropilin-2 (NRP2) and VEGF-C signaling by directly binding at the site of the VEGF binding pocket. Treatment with ATYR2810 monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy in a model of non-small cell lung cancer demonstrated increased tumor growth inhibition and sensitivity to chemotherapy. In a model of clear cell renal cell carcinoma, ATYR2810 in combination with the VEGFR-targeted therapy sunitinib inhibited tumor growth and led to tumor regression in some cases. These data demonstrate the potential therapeutic effects of blocking the NRP2/VEGF-C signaling axis with ATYR2810 on enhanced tumor growth inhibition and sensitivity to chemotherapy and targeted therapy.

"High levels of VEGF-C are known to be associated with key features of aggressive cancers, including therapy resistance, whether this resistance is intrinsic or acquired throughout the treatment paradigm," said Leslie A. Nangle, Ph.D., Vice President, Research, at aTyr. "While current targeted agents can block VEGF/VEGFR signaling, they do not act on VEGF/NRP2 signaling that can occur in the absence of VEGFR and is known to be a key driver of aggressive cancer. By directly blocking the interaction between VEGF and NRP2, ATYR2810 may be an effective novel therapeutic that combats resistance and reduces invasion and metastasis and may serve as a differentiated approach to targeting aggressive cancers."

Details of the poster and corresponding abstract are as follows:

Title: Resistance to cancer therapy via upregulation of the NRP2/VEGF-C axis can be neutralized by ATYR2810
Authors: Alison Barber, Zhiwen Xu, Lisa Eide, Clara Polizzi, Max Pastenes, Lauren Guy, Jasmine Stamps, Kristina Hamel, Zachary Fogassy, Sofia Klopp-Savino, Esther Chong, Yang Qing, Lara Glendening, Christoph Burkart, Leslie Nangle. aTyr Pharma.
Abstract Presentation Number: 1758
Session Title: Reversal of Drug Resistance
Session Date and Time: Monday, April 17, 2023 from 9:00AM – 12:30PM ET
Location: Orange County Convention Center, W Halls B – E1, Poster Section 21
Poster Board Number: 23

About ATYR2810

ATYR2810 is a fully humanized monoclonal antibody that is designed to specifically and functionally block the interaction between neuropilin-2 (NRP2) and one of its primary ligands, VEGF. NRP2 is a cell surface receptor that is highly expressed in certain tumors, in the lymphatic system and on key immune cells implicated in cancer progression. Increased NRP2 expression is associated with worse outcomes in many cancers. VEGF is a validated mediator of tumor survival and growth and correlates with tumor invasiveness and metastasis. Current therapies that directly target classic VEGF/VEGFR signaling do not block NRP2/VEGFR signaling. ATYR2810 is in preclinical development for the treatment of aggressive cancers where NRP2 is implicated.

On April 17, 2023 Precigen, Inc. (Nasdaq: PGEN), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of innovative gene and cell therapies to improve the lives of patients, reported preclinical data for the next generation UltraCAR-T platform utilizing MSLN CAR from Precigen’s library of non-viral plasmids at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2023 (Press release, Precigen, APR 17, 2023, View Source [SID1234630184]). The abstract titled, "Next Generation UltraCAR-T Cells with Intrinsic Checkpoint Inhibition and Overnight Manufacturing Overcome Suppressive Tumor Microenvironment Leading to Sustained Antitumor Activity" will be presented as a poster presentation on Monday, April 17, 2023 from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM ET (Abstract #1791).

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Next Generation MSLN UltraCAR-T

UltraCAR-T cells are engineered to co-express a CAR, membrane bound IL-15 (mbIL15), and kill switch genes using non-viral gene transfer via the high-throughput UltraPorator system. UltraCAR-T cells offer the potential for enhanced potency, safety and scalability. Next generation MSLN UltraCAR-T cells also incorporate a novel mechanism for blockade of PD-1, to potentially supersede the need for combination therapy with checkpoint inhibitors and mitigating classic T cell exhaustion that occurs from chronic stimulation, thereby expanding the therapeutic window for efficacy. MSLN has limited expression in normal healthy tissue but is commonly overexpressed on multiple solid tumors such as mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer and is associated with poor prognosis making it an attractive anti-tumor target.

Preclinical Summary Results

Next generation MSLN UltraCAR-T cells were successfully engineered using a single multicistronic non-viral transposon and overnight manufacturing process to simultaneously express a CAR, mbIL15, a kill switch, and a novel mechanism for intrinsic PD-1 blockade. Next generation MSLN UltraCAR-T cells showed specific and significant downregulation of PD-1 leading to significant increase in cytotoxicity of MSLN+ PD-L1+ tumor cells in vitro at low effector to target cell ratios compared to control MSLN CAR-T cells lacking PD-1 blockade. Next generation MSLN UltraCAR-T cells exhibited markedly enhanced polyfunctionality as well as enhanced inflammatory cytokine production in the presence of MSLN+ PD-L1+ tumor cells.

In two different in vivo xenograft models, MSLN+ PD-L1+ ovarian cancer and MSLN+ PD-L1+ mesothelioma, a single administration of next generation MSLN UltraCAR-T cells to tumor bearing mice resulted in robust UltraCAR-T cell expansion and durable persistence leading to significant antitumor efficacy. Moreover, rechallenging the previously treated mice who became tumor-free for a second time with mesothelioma tumors to simulate tumor relapse led to the significant reduction in tumor burden without additional MSLN UltraCAR-T treatment demonstrating the durable persistence and functionality of UltraCAR-T cells in vivo.

In mice, the next generation MSLN UltraCAR-T cells demonstrated significant downregulation of PD-1 and preferred CAR-T phenotype that was most similar to T central memory (TCM) and stem cell memory (TSCM). These data demonstrate the potential of UltraCAR-T cells to persist long-term in vivo, prevent CAR-T cell exhaustion, and mount a durable anti-tumor response with the ability for continued response upon tumor rechallenge.

"Precigen has built one of the most comprehensive clinical and preclinical CAR-T portfolios with antigen-specific targets spanning both hematological and solid tumors, including CD33, MUC16, ROR1, CD19, BCMA and MSLN," said Helen Sabzevari, PhD, President and CEO of Precigen. "MSLN is the second target for the next generation UltraCAR-T incorporating intrinsic checkpoint inhibition, following our recently initiated Phase 1/1b study for PRGN-3007. With every milestone, we move closer to our ultimate vision to transform the personalized cell therapy landscape using Precigen’s library approach to target tumor-associated antigens to address unmet medical needs for cancer patients."