On June 3, 2025 Kairos Pharma, Ltd. (NYSE American: KAPA), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, reported its presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2025 Annual Meeting highlighting data on its investigational small molecule GITR ligand agonist KROS101 (Press release, Kairos Pharma, JUN 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234653675]). ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) is being held May 30-June 3, 2025 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill.

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In the presentation titled, "Effect of KROS 101, a small molecule GITR ligand agonist, on T effector cells, T reg cells and intratumoral CD8 T cell cytotoxicity," the study authors presented their findings that demonstrated KROS 101’s capability to act as a potent glucocorticosteroid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor (GITR) ligand agonist with dual mechanisms of action. The study authors also indicated their study showed KROS 101 enhanced T cell function by promoting proliferation and increasing cytotoxicity, enhancing the immune response by boosting cytokine production and tumor cancer cell killing. In addition, the study found that KROS101 reduced T reg-mediated suppression by reducing T reg populations, which reverses immune system suppression and enhances effector T cell activity. Further, the study showed KROS to be superior to anti-GITR antibody TRX518 in T cell tumor infiltration, T reg decrease, enhancing tumor cell cytotoxicity and preventing T cell exhaustion. TRX518 was previously in clinical trials. The presentation can be accessed here.

John Yu, M.D., Kairos CEO commented, "These results strongly support continued study of KROS101 as a cancer immunotherapy, as they show strong activity in boosting the immune system while targeting and killing tumor cells. Its dual mechanism of action provides significant opportunity to a market that remains in desperate need of new solutions. We continue to believe that KROS 101 has the potential to help optimize cancer treatment and we look forward to discussing these findings with the medical and scientific communities while providing additional progress updates as appropriate."

On June 3, 2025 IMUNON, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMNN), a clinical-stage company in Phase 3 development of its DNA-mediated immunotherapy, reported positive data from the Company’s Phase 2 OVATION 2 Study showing that treatment with IMNN-001 in women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer resulted in consistent, clinically meaningful improvements in several key endpoints across treatment groups, including overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), chemotherapy response score and surgical response (Press release, IMUNON, JUN 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234653674]). Treatment with IMNN-001 also showed a favorable safety profile, with no reports of serious immune-related adverse events. The full results are being presented today in an oral presentation at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, and simultaneously published in the peer-reviewed journal Gynecologic Oncology.

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Participants with newly diagnosed advanced epithelial ovarian cancer in the Phase 2 OVATION 2 Study (n=112) were randomized 1:1 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of IMNN-001 (100 mg/m2 administered intraperitoneally weekly) plus neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy (N/ACT) compared to standard of care (SoC) N/ACT alone, with a median follow-up of 31 months. The data being presented today highlight the consistent results achieved across all treatment groups, demonstrating:

Median 13-month increase in OS (46 vs. 33 months) and median 3-month increase in PFS (14.9 vs. 11.9 months) in IMNN-001 treatment arm compared to standard of care alone.
Better therapeutic effect observed with IMNN-001 treatment compared to the control arm (p=0.0375), as shown by mean 6.5-month extension of time free of progression or death (PFS + OS) captured in totality of treatment effect.
Use of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors as part of maintenance therapy further enhanced outcomes, with median OS not yet reached in IMNN-001 treatment arm after >5 years compared to 37 months on standard of care.
Chemotherapy response score highlights double the response rate of a complete or near complete histopathological response following treatment with 26.1% in the IMNN-001 treatment arm compared to 13.0% in the control arm.
Surgical response rate of no macroscopic residual tumor left after surgery 64.6% in the IMNN-001 treatment arm compared to 52.1% in the control arm.
Hazard ratio of 0.78 in study participants who are homologous recombination proficient (HRP) and hazard ratio of 0.42 in women positive for homologous recombination deficiency (HRD+), including BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, suggesting increased therapeutic activity.
IMNN-001 was generally safe and well tolerated, with no reports of cytokine release syndrome, systemic toxicity or serious immune-related adverse events (AEs). The most common AEs primarily included abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
"These data highlighting the consistency of results across all treatment groups are a true testament to the power of our TheraPlas technology and the potential of IMNN-001 to transform the treatment paradigm of women who are newly diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer and in desperate need of new treatment options," said Stacy Lindborg, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of IMUNON. "Results were consistent across a variety of participants, including women who receive PARP inhibitors, who are HRP and HRD positive, and who have BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. We are grateful for the continued support and participation of study participants and investigators and look forward to advancing our pivotal Phase 3 OVATION 3 trial of IMNN-001, with the first two trial sites recently initiated."

The OVATION 2 Study oral presentation and journal manuscript will both be available on the "Scientific Presentations" page of IMUNON’s website at View Source

About the Phase 2 OVATION 2 Study

OVATION 2 evaluated the dosing, safety, efficacy and biological activity of intraperitoneal administration of IMNN-001 in combination with neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy (N/ACT) of paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients newly diagnosed with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Treatment in the neoadjuvant period is designed to shrink the tumors as much as possible for optimal surgical removal after three cycles of chemotherapy. Following N/ACT, patients undergo interval debulking surgery, followed by three additional cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy to treat any residual tumor. This open-label study enrolled 112 patients who were randomized 1:1 and evaluated for safety and efficacy to compare N/ACT plus IMNN-001 versus standard-of-care N/ACT. In accordance with the study protocol, patients randomized to the IMNN-001 treatment arm could receive up to 17 weekly doses of 100 mg/m2 in addition to N/ACT. As a Phase 2 study, OVATION 2 was not powered for statistical significance. Additional endpoints included objective response rate, chemotherapy response score and surgical response.

About IMNN-001 Immunotherapy

Designed using IMUNON’s proprietary TheraPlas platform technology, IMNN-001 is an IL-12 DNA plasmid vector encased in a nanoparticle delivery system that enables cell transfection followed by persistent, local secretion of the IL-12 protein. IL-12 is one of the most active cytokines for the induction of potent anticancer immunity acting through the induction of T-lymphocyte and natural killer cell proliferation. IMUNON previously reported positive safety and encouraging Phase 1 results with IMNN-001 administered as monotherapy or as combination therapy in patients with advanced peritoneally metastasized primary or recurrent ovarian cancer and completed a Phase 1b dose-escalation trial (the OVATION 1 Study) of IMNN-001 in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer. IMUNON previously reported positive results from the recently completed Phase 2 OVATION 2 Study, which assessed IMNN-001 (100 mg/m2 administered intraperitoneally weekly) plus neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy (N/ACT) of paclitaxel and carboplatin compared to standard-of-care N/ACT alone in 112 patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer.

About Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the sixth deadliest malignancy among women in the U.S. There are approximately 20,000 new cases of ovarian cancer every year and approximately 70% are diagnosed in advanced Stage III/IV. Epithelial ovarian cancer is characterized by dissemination of tumors in the peritoneal cavity with a high risk of recurrence (75%, Stage III/IV) after surgery and chemotherapy. Since the five-year survival rates of patients with Stage III/IV disease at diagnosis are poor (41% and 20%, respectively), there remains a need for a therapy that not only reduces the recurrence rate but also improves overall survival. The peritoneal cavity of advanced ovarian cancer patients contains the primary tumor environment and is an attractive target for a regional approach to immune modulation.

On June 3, 2025 ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBRX) reported results presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2025 of the first known treatment for lymphopenia with ANKTIVA and CAR-NK therapy (Press release, ImmunityBio, JUN 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234653673]). This data supports that reversal of lymphopenia, a well-established root cause of early mortality in patients with cancer across all tumor types, correlates with significant improved survival.

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While anemia and neutropenia have long been addressed by agents like Epogen and Neupogen, no therapy has ever existed for lymphopenia—until now. ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln), an IL-15 superagonist approved in April 2024 for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle- invasive bladder cancer carcinoma in situ with or without papillary disease, represents the first lymphocyte-stimulating agent (LSA) capable of expanding lymphocytes critical for immunogenic cell death, such as natural killer (NK) and T cells.

These findings emphasize the need for a therapy to overcome treatment induced lymphopenia with higher mortality as presented at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2025 by several institutions (Abstract #8054, Satoskar et al. and Abstract #2663, Saleh et al.)

In a single-arm QUILT-88 clinical trial of 86 participants with third-to-sixth-line metastatic pancreatic cancer with very high tumor burden (CA19-9 levels exceeding 34,000 IU/ml), for which no therapy currently exists, patients received ANKTIVA subcutaneously in combination with off-the-shelf, ex-vivo infusion of CAR-NK cells (PD-L1 t-haNK) and low dose immuno-modulating chemotherapy. This first reported study of treating lymphopenia demonstrated significant differences in median overall survival in subjects whose lymphopenia was reversed (Absolute Lymphocyte Count: ALC ≥ 1,000).

In 67 out of 86 subjects, reversal of lymphopenia was achieved and median overall survival was significantly prolonged compared to those who remained in severe lymphopenia with P-value 0.005, HR: 0.46 (0.26, 0.80) in Figure 1. In subjects with lymphopenia rescue and a lower tumor burden (less than the median CA19-9 of 34,000 IU/mL), the median overall survival in these very advanced metastatic pancreatic cancer patients exceeded 10 months (Figure 2).

These findings of improved survival in pancreatic cancer patients with lower tumor burden point to the potential of further prolonged overall survival in pancreatic cancer patients if treated in the first line or neoadjuvant stages of disease. Highlighting the importance of lymphopenia reversal, Oncologist published a peer-reviewed paper titled "Recurrent pancreatic cancer treated with N-803 and PD-L1 t-haNK followed by an EGFR-targeted nanocell drug conjugate," demonstrating that in a patient with 2nd line metastatic pancreatic cancer treated with the full Cancer BioShield platform—including ANKTIVA, CAR-NK cells (PD-L1 t-haNK), and antigen-targeting adenoviruses—remained in remission for over six years and maintains a high quality of life at the date of this release.

The expanded access authorization announced yesterday enables patients across all solid tumor types who have exhausted first-line therapy including chemotherapy, radiation, or immunotherapy to receive Anktiva as a lymphocyte stimulating agent to protect the immune system from the lymphogenic adverse effects of current standards of care.

The ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2025 materials from ImmunityBio can be found below:

Association of lymphopenia rescue and CA19-9 levels with overall survival following IL-15 superagonist N-803 and PD-L1 t-haNK chemo-immunotherapy for 3rd line or greater metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Abstract Text: View Source
Poster PDF: View Source

About the Cancer BioShield Platform

The Cancer BioShield platform is a first-in-class immunotherapy strategy designed to restore immune competence by reversing lymphopenia—the loss of functional immune cells caused by cancer itself and by conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy. At its core is ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln), an IL-15 agonist approved for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer CIS with or without papillary disease, activates and proliferates natural killer (NK) cells and CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, restoring lymphocyte levels critical for immunosurveillance, immunogenic cell death, and long-term tumor control.

The platform employs a multi-modal approach:

In-vivo stimulation: Subcutaneous administration of ANKTIVA expands NK and T cells, boosting anti-tumor immunity.
Ex-vivo targeted cytotoxicity: Off-the-shelf PD-L1 t-haNK CAR-NK cells are engineered to target and eliminate PD-L1–expressing tumor cells and immunosuppressive neutrophils (myeloid-derived suppressor cells), enhancing anti-tumor specificity and reducing immune evasion.
Memory Cytokine-Enriched Natural Killer (M-ceNK) cell therapy: M-ceNK cells are developed via cytokine activation and expansion of autologous and allogeneic NK cells collected through apheresis, potentially providing long-term immune memory and sustained cytotoxic capacity.
Together, these components offer a comprehensive, novel, immune-restoring therapeutic platform aimed at not only expanding effector immune cells but also overcoming tumor-mediated immune suppression to support long-term disease control.

The platform’s effectiveness can be tracked through universally utilized, simple complete blood count (CBC): increases in absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) reflect ANKTIVA’s lymphocyte-stimulating activity, while reductions in the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) demonstrate PD-L1 t-haNK’s immunosuppressive neutrophil targeting. Low ALC and high NLR levels are laboratory measurements that have been extensively reported as predictive biomarkers of poor prognosis with early mortality across all tumor types5,6. The data presented by ImmunityBio for the first time demonstrates that improving ALC and NLR correlates with significant enhanced overall survival and clinical benefit.

About Lymphopenia and Absolute Lymphocyte Count (ALC)

Lymphopenia—the loss of key immune cells such as NK, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells—is a common side effect of chemotherapy1, radiation2,3, and some immunotherapies4. Unlike anemia and neutropenia, which have FDA-approved treatments like EPO and Neupogen, no therapy previously existed to treat this immune cell depletion. Lymphopenia weakens the immune system, increases infection risk, and is linked to early death across many cancer types5. Low Absolute Lymphocyte Count (ALC) is a recognized poor prognostic marker. ANKTIVA is the first approved therapy to restore lymphocyte levels by activating and expanding NK and T cells—without increasing immunosuppressive T regulatory cells7.

More information on lymphopenia could be found on Twitter/X @DrPatSoonShiong articles here: View Source

On June 3, 2025 Immix Biopharma, Inc. ("ImmixBio", "Company", "We" or "Us" or "IMMX"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing cell therapies for AL Amyloidosis and other serious diseases, reported meeting its primary endpoint of complete response (CR) rate for cell therapy NXC-201 at an oral presentation of interim results at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting (ASCO 2025) in Chicago, Illinois (Press release, Immix Biopharma, JUN 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234653672]). The oral presentation summarized meeting its interim results endpoint in from the U.S. multi-site NEXICART-2 clinical trial evaluating NXC-201 in relapsed/refractory AL Amyloidosis with a data cutoff of April 11, 2025.

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A Key Opinion Leader (KOL) event to discuss the significance will be held Tuesday, June 3, 2025 3:00pm ET with live Q&A (register here to participate).

"Meeting primary endpoint at this interim data readout is a testament to the groundbreaking efficacy of NXC-201, as we work toward the first approval in the challenging indication of relapsed/refractory AL Amyloidosis," said Ilya Rachman, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Immix Biopharma. Gabriel Morris, Chief Financial Officer of Immix Biopharma, added, "This inflection point further accelerates our progress toward BLA submission for FDA approval."

Immix’s Phase 1/2 NEXICART-2 clinical trial is a U.S. multi-site, single-arm study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NXC-201 in patients who are refractory to, or relapse on treatment for relapsed/refractory AL Amyloidosis.

ASCO Presentation Results
Prior to NXC-201 treatment, the median lines of therapy was 4 (range: 2-12). All patients had baseline relapsed/refractory AL Amyloidosis organ involvement. After NXC-201 treatment, all patients normalized pathological disease markers. Complete responses (CRs) were observed in 70% (7 out of 10) of patients treated with NXC-201. The remaining 3 patients are bone marrow minimum residual disease (MRD) negative (10-6), predicting future CR (Immix believes remaining three MRD negative (10-6) patients could be confirmed as CRs in the coming weeks and months). Downstream clinical improvement, including cardiac and renal organ responses, were recorded after CRs. There have been no relapses recorded to-date and no safety signals identified. No neurotoxicity has been observed. Only low-grade cytokine release syndrome has been observed. The ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) presentation contains clinical data as of April 11, 2025.

Current treatments typically result in a lower than 10% complete response (CR) rate in relapsed/refractory AL Amyloidosis according to Zanwar, et al 2024, indicating a high unmet medical need.

KOL Event to Discuss NXC-201 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Clinical Data Presentation
A Key Opinion Leader (KOL) event with lead investigator Heather Landau, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Shahzad Raza, MD of Cleveland Clinic and Jeffrey Zonder, MD of Karmanos Cancer Center will be held Tuesday, June 3, 2025 at 3:00 pm ET to discuss these results. Register here: View Source

About NEXICART-2
NEXICART-2 (NCT06097832) is an ongoing single-arm multi-site U.S. Phase 1/2 clinical trial of sterically-optimized CAR-T NXC-201 in relapsed/refractory AL Amyloidosis. NEXICART-2 is expected to enroll 40 patients with preserved heart function (excluding patients with pre-existing heart failure) who have not been exposed to prior BCMA-targeted therapy. The primary endpoint of the Phase 1 portion is safety. The primary endpoint of the Phase 2 portion is efficacy.

About NXC-201
NXC-201 is a sterically-optimized BCMA-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy with a "digital filter" that filters out non-specific activation. Initial data from ex-U.S. study NEXICART-1 has demonstrated high complete response rates in relapsed/refractory AL Amyloidosis. U.S. Phase 1/2 study NEXICART-2 is ongoing. NXC-201 has been awarded Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) by the FDA, and Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) by the US FDA and in the EU by the EMA.

About AL Amyloidosis
AL amyloidosis is caused by abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow, which produce misfolded amyloid proteins that circulate in the blood, then build-up in the heart, kidney, liver, and other organs. This build-up causes progressive and widespread organ damage, including heart and renal failure, leading to high mortality rates.

The U.S. observed prevalence of relapsed/refractory AL Amyloidosis is estimated to be growing at 12% per year according to Staron, et al Blood Cancer Journal, to approximately 33,277 patients in 2024.

The Amyloidosis market was $3.6 billion in 2017, and is expected to reach $6 billion in 2025, according to Grand View Research.

On June 3, 2025 Genprex, Inc. ("Genprex" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: GNPX), a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes, reported that its team will be attending and participating at the BIO 2025 International Convention taking place June 16-19, 2025 in Boston, Mass (Press release, Genprex, JUN 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234653671]).

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In attendance from Genprex’s executive leadership team will be Thomas Gallagher, Senior Vice President of Intellectual Property and Licensing. Throughout the duration of the conference, Mr. Gallagher will be available in-person to conduct one-on-one meetings with industry groups to provide an overview of the Company’s gene therapies for cancer and diabetes.

For those interested in meeting with Mr. Gallagher or other members of Genprex’s management team, please request a meeting through the conference meeting portal or by contacting Investor Relations at [email protected].

The BIO International Convention is the largest and most comprehensive event for biotechnology, representing the full ecosystem of biotech with 20,000 industry leaders from across the globe.