On November 6, 2025 Cue Biopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: CUE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel class of therapeutic biologics to selectively engage and modulate disease-specific T cells for the treatment of autoimmune disease and cancer, and ImmunoScape, Pte. Ltd, a biotechnology company developing next-generation T cell receptor (TCR)-based therapies in oncology, reported that they have entered into a collaboration and license agreement to advance a novel in vivo approach to cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumors. Under the agreement, ImmunoScape will develop a novel Seed-and-Boost immunotherapy that combines Cue Biopharma’s clinically-validated Immuno-STAT T-cell engagers, the CUE-100 series, with ImmunoScape’s proprietary TCRs. The combination therapy is designed to overcome core limitations of existing cell therapies with the potential for establishing a breakthrough standard of care with superior anti-tumor activity, durable T cell persistence and product scalability.
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With this Seed-and-Boost approach to immunotherapy, a minimal starting dose of ImmunoScape’s tumor-specific TCR-Ts are administered to the patient (Seed) followed by the administration of Cue Biopharma’s TCR matched IL-2 Immuno-STAT molecules (Boost). TCR-selective engagement is designed to enable targeted expansion and activation in the patient while avoiding systemic immune activation and the off-the-shelf Immuno-STAT dosing to allow for precise in vivo modulation of the tumor-specific T cell response to enhance efficacy, persistence and tumor infiltration while mitigating T cell exhaustion. By requiring only small starting numbers of engineered T cells, this strategy simplifies manufacturing and aims to deliver deeper and durable clinical efficacy for patients along with improved tolerability and quality of life. This promising breakthrough approach is supported by a comprehensive preclinical data package from both companies.
The CUE-100 series is a novel class of injectable biologics that leverage the specificity of a TCR, enabling selective engagement and activation of targeted disease-specific T cells. The core protein framework of the Immuno-STAT molecules facilitates engagement with the TCR, fostering TCR signaling while concurrently delivering Interleukin-2 (IL-2) as the key second costimulatory molecule for selective T cell activation and expansion. The Phase 1 clinical datasets generated from the CUE-100 series programs have demonstrated clinical activity in several metastatic cancers without the significant toxicities that are often caused by traditional immune-activating IL-2 delivery.
ImmunoScape has developed an extensive library of highly potent TCRs against a diverse panel of shared tumor-specific targets binding to the world’s most prevalent HLA alleles. By utilizing these proprietary TCRs in combination with the CUE-100 series, it is anticipated that the potential of cell therapy to provide durable and effective anti-tumor effects in solid tumors may become a reality with this Seed-and-Boost approach.
"We believe this strategic collaboration with ImmunoScape represents a significant development for treating solid tumors with immunotherapy and creating potential value for our shareholders," said Usman Azam, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Cue Biopharma. "It positions the Company to focus on our autoimmune disease programs and continue to advance the Immuno-STAT platform for oncology with our partners at ImmunoScape."
"ImmunoScape is excited to partner with Cue Biopharma to pioneer this novel immunotherapy against solid tumors and potentially provide patients with a promising treatment option," said Michael Fehlings, chief executive officer of ImmunoScape. "Based on our extensive preclinical work, we believe this Seed- and-Boost approach will transform T cell therapy for long-term efficacy against a range of solid tumors while avoiding the deleterious side effects of broad immune activation. We aim to transform patients’ lives by enabling superior cell therapy and streamlining the patient journey."
Pursuant to the terms of the collaboration, Cue Biopharma is entitled to receive an upfront total payment of $15 million, $10 million in Q4 2025 and $5 million in November of 2026, as well as a 40% equity stake in ImmunoScape. In addition, Cue Biopharma is also eligible for high-single-digit royalty payments on net sales. For further details regarding the terms of the collaboration and license agreement, please refer to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed today by Cue Biopharma.
About the CUE-100 Series
The CUE-100 series consists of Fc-fusion biologics that incorporate peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) molecules along with rationally engineered interleukin 2 (IL-2) molecules. These singular biologics are anticipated to selectively target, activate and expand a robust repertoire of tumor-specific T cells directly in the patient’s body. The binding affinity of IL-2 for its receptor has been deliberately attenuated to achieve preferential selective activation of tumor-specific effector T cells while reducing potential for effects on regulatory T cells (Tregs) or broad systemic activation, potentially mitigating the dose-limiting toxicities associated with current IL-2-based therapies.
(Press release, Cue Biopharma, NOV 6, 2025, View Source [SID1234659563])