On June 18, 2025 MAIA Biotechnology, Inc. (NYSE American: MAIA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer, reported its entry into a clinical master supply agreement with Roche for future studies investigating the combination of MAIA’s telomere-targeting agent ateganosine (THIO), sequenced with Roche’s checkpoint inhibitor (CPI), atezolizumab (Tecentriq), for the treatment of multiple hard-to-treat cancers (Press release, MAIA Biotechnology, JUN 18, 2025, View Source [SID1234653995]).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
"In preclinical studies, ateganosine was found to be highly synergistic and effective in combination with Roche’s anti-PD-L1 agent atezolizumab," said MAIA Chairman and CEO Vlad Vitoc, M.D. "We are pleased to partner with world-renowned Roche and we look forward to further strengthening our mission to find safe and effective cancer treatments."
About Ateganosine
Ateganosine (THIO, 6-thio-dG or 6-thio-2’-deoxyguanosine) is a first-in-class investigational telomere-targeting agent currently in clinical development to evaluate its activity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Telomeres, along with the enzyme telomerase, play a fundamental role in the survival of cancer cells and their resistance to current therapies. The modified nucleotide 6-thio-2’-deoxyguanosine induces telomerase-dependent telomeric DNA modification, DNA damage responses, and selective cancer cell death. Ateganosine-damaged telomeric fragments accumulate in cytosolic micronuclei and activate both innate (cGAS/STING) and adaptive (T-cell) immune responses. The sequential treatment with ateganosine followed by PD-(L)1 inhibitors resulted in profound and persistent tumor regression in advanced, in vivo cancer models by induction of cancer type–specific immune memory. Ateganosine is presently developed as a second or later line of treatment for NSCLC for patients that have progressed beyond the standard-of-care regimen of existing checkpoint inhibitors.