On October 5, 2026 TuHURA Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:HURA) ("TuHURA" or the "Company"), a Phase 3 immuno-oncology company developing novel therapeutics to overcome resistance to cancer immunotherapy, reported that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 12,734,168 entitled, "Delta Opioid Receptor Antagonists Reprogram Immunosuppresive Microenvironment to Boost Immunotherapy." The patent is directed to, among other things, administration of DOR antagonists to subjects having cancer associated with DOR expressing Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSCs). It is further directed to uses of a variety of DOR antagonist combination therapies in treating, inhibiting, reducing, ameliorating, and/or preventing cancer and/or metastasis.
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"We are the first company to identify both the presence of and central role the DOR plays in modulating the ability of MDSCs to allow cancers to survive in an immunologic sanctuary. Inhibiting the DOR on MDSCs may allow cancer immunotherapies to work better and allow them to keep on working by removing their immunosuppressive shield thereby preventing cancer fighting T cells becoming exhausted. T cell exhaustion remains a major obstacle for cancer immunotherapies," said Dr. James Bianco, President and Chief Executive Officer of TuHURA Biosciences. "Further, we are pleased the patent covers uses of our DOR technology beyond ADCs and its potential application to other important classes of cancer immunotherapies, such as adoptive cellular immunotherapies like CAR-T, T Tregs , or TIL cell therapies. Utilizing our patented DOR technology, we are excited about our progress in advancing our novel class of bi-functional, bi-specific immune modulating ADCs targeting the DOR on MDSCs toward proof-of-concept in preclinical models of blood-related cancers like AML and MDS."
The patent, issued on September 15, 2026, covers administering a DOR antagonist to cancer subjects and mediating immunosuppressive myelopoiesis. Additionally, the patent discloses applications of DOR antagonists not only with bi-specific or bi-functional ADC technology, but also in the context of autologous or allogeneic adoptive cellular immunotherapies such as CAR-T, Treg or TIL cellular therapies. The patent term runs through 2043 before any patent term extension.
(Press release, TuHURA Biosciences, OCT 5, 2026, View Source [SID1234673184])