On December 13, 2021 Boston Immune Technologies and Therapeutics, Inc. (BITT), a privately held developer of novel tumor necrosis factor (TNF) Superfamily antagonist antibodies, reported that the company has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Cancer Institute at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (Press release, BITT, DEC 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234596968]). The award is for a project titled "Preclinical Toxicology and Pharmacology Evaluation of a New TNFR2 Antagonistic Monoclonal Antibody for Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma (CTCL) Therapy." The company also announced that Bruce Beutel, Ph.D., has joined BITT’s Board of Directors.

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"The SBIR funding will be used to complete the IND-enabling steps and initiate clinical trials of our anti-TNFR2 antibody, BIR2101," said Russell LaMontagne, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BITT. "We appreciate the recognition of our unique approach to TNFR2 antagonism and the importance of TNFR2 as novel target in cancer immunotherapy."

Dr. Beutel has over 25 years of leadership experience in drug discovery and business development. Before joining BITT, he was founding chief operating officer of Dewpoint and entrepreneur in residence at the LS Polaris Innovation Fund. His prior roles have also included chief business officer at SQZ Biotechnologies and executive director at Merck.