Poster Spotlights CD2 Pathway as a Differentiated T Cell Costimulation Approach for the Treatment of Solid and Hematological Malignancies
Modular Platform Being Leveraged to Advance Broad Pipeline of First-in-Category Costimulatory T Cell Engager Immunotherapies
BRANFORD, Conn., Nov. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EvolveImmune Therapeutics, an immuno-oncology company developing first-in-category, multifunctional biotherapeutics to overcome cancer-driven immunodeficiency, today announced that new preclinical data highlighting EVOLVE™, the company’s novel costimulatory T cell engager platform, were presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). The results were featured in a poster presentation (#1060) entitled, “EVOLVE: a Novel Costimulatory T Cell Engager Platform Engineered for the Treatment of Immune Suppressive Tumors,” at the conference, which is being held November 8-12, 2022, in Boston.
Most current immunotherapies rely on the presence of pre-existing tumor-reactive T cells, which are absent or at low levels in many tumors. Moreover, they do not provide coordinated costimulatory receptor activation to overcome T cell dysfunction and drive more effective and durable anti-tumor responses. The EVOLVE platform was created to unleash potent, selective and integrated T cell costimulation to bypass low tumor immunogenicity, conditionally activate adaptive immunity, and reduce T cell exhaustion, in order to address unmet needs for the treatment of solid and hematologic tumors.
EvolveImmune has built a pipeline of first-in-category costimulatory T cell engager immunotherapies against both first-in-class and best-in-class cancer targets. The company’s lead candidate, EV-104, is a novel multifunctional T cell redirecting antibody which targets a squamous cell tumor-derived antigen and selectively mediates CD2 costimulation. Data from in vivo models of lung cancer presented at SITC demonstrated the ability of EV-104 to generate significant and durable anti-tumor efficacy that was superior to matched CD3-bispecific antibody controls. The efficacy of EV-104 correlated with the sustained presence of activated effector tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. These findings confirm and extend the anti-tumor efficacy of EV-104 and suggest its potential to prevent T cell dysfunction and reinvigorate exhausted T cells. Moreover, no evidence of peripheral human T cell activation and cytokine release was observed, supporting EV-104’s safety profile.
“The impressive collection of preclinical data presented at SITC demonstrate the promise of the EVOLVE platform to deliver enhanced therapeutic durability for the treatment of solid and hematologic cancers. Particularly encouraging is the initial evidence demonstrating the ability of these differentiated T-cell redirecting agents to activate T cells and to maintain their function once activated, resulting in improved anti-tumor responses. There are substantial unmet needs in cancer immune therapy that could be addressed by the novel EvolveImmune agents, and I look forward to their rapid deployment into the clinic,” said Mario Sznol, Ph.D., co-director of the Cancer Immunology Program and Leader of the Melanoma/Renal Cancer Translational Research Team at Yale Cancer Center, and a member of EvolveImmune’s scientific advisory board.
“We are encouraged by the strong preclinical performance of our EVOLVE platform, including its promising efficacy and safety profile. Based on our translational and functional evidence, we remain convinced of the superiority of CD2 costimulation to coordinate the formation of an integrated, synthetic immune synapse to drive anti-tumor immunity. Not only do the data we presented here at SITC and also at prior congresses provide critical initial validation for the innovative costimulatory approach that underpins our entire pipeline of first-in-category immunotherapies, but they establish confidence to rapidly advance EV-104 through IND-enabling activities,” stated Jeremy Myers, Ph.D., senior vice president, research and development at EvolveImmune. “We look forward to progressing EV-104 into the clinic by early 2024.”
The SITC presentation also highlighted the demonstrated capability of the EVOLVE platform to target a diverse range of tumor antigens in both solid and hematological cancers. In addition to EV-104, the company’s pipeline includes EV-105 for relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma, EV-106, which recognizes additional solid tumor targets, and EV-101, which targets a novel tumor antigen present on B cell malignancies and in acute myeloid leukemia.
Additional information on the 37th Annual Meeting of SITC is available through the conference website at: https://www.sitcancer.org/2022/home
About EvolveImmune Therapeutics
EvolveImmune Therapeutics, Inc. is an immunotherapy platform company developing first-in-category, multifunctional biotherapeutics designed to overcome cancer-driven immunodeficiency in a range of solid tumors and hematological cancers. The company is rapidly advancing two first-in-category programs, with first-in-human clinical trials anticipated in 18 months. The company is supported by a syndicate of top-tier life science industry investors including Pfizer Ventures, Solasta Ventures, Takeda Ventures, Yonjin Ventures and Elm Street Ventures.
For more information, please visit: www.evolveimmune.com
