On September 14, 2020 Navrogen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company specialized in developing therapies for cancer and immune-related disorders, reported that it has been awarded a National Cancer Institute (NCI) R03 Grant to support its NAV-006 program involving the development of a next-generation rituximab that is refractory to the immuno-suppressive effects of the tumor microenvironment (Press release, Navrogen, SEP 14, 2020, View Source [SID1234565087]).
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Follicular lymphoma (FL) is characterized by proliferation of neoplastic B cells, with 15,000 new cases a year in the USA. CD20 is a protein expressed on malignant FL cells and is the target of the commercially approved monoclonal antibody, rituximab. Rituximab markedly improves progression-free survival and overall survival of FL patients. However, studies have shown that some patients have an immune-suppressed tumor microenvironment that reduces the efficacy of rituximab treatment.
Navrogen has employed its proprietary Humoral Immuno Oncology (HIO) technology to identify the factors reducing rituximab’s therapeutic effects against immuno-suppressed tumors. Navrogen will utilize the NCI grant support (1R03CA241784) to apply its block-removed immunoglobulin technology (BRITE) to create a next-generation rituximab that is refractory to the immuno-suppressive effects of the tumor microenvironment.
"I am delighted by the NCI’s endorsement of the NAV-006 program" said Dr. Luigi Grasso, Ph.D., co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Navrogen. "Humoral Immuno Oncology (HIO) is an understudied field and it is encouraging that the scientists in the peer-review panel who reviewed our proposal understood the significance of our discovery and the solutions that we have planned to deploy."
Navrogen will complete the tasks outlined in the awarded grant, and upon successful optimization will seek strategic partners to support later stages of development of the HIO-refractory rituximab.