SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HARP), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing novel T cell engagers, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to HPN217, a BCMA-targeting TriTAC®, for the treatment of patients with relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who have received at least four lines of therapy. A Phase 1/2 clinical trial is currently ongoing for HPN217 in the RRMM patient population.
“We are pleased that HPN217 has received FDA Fast Track designation because it highlights the serious unmet medical need for patients with relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma who received multiple lines of therapy,” stated Julie Eastland, President and CEO, Harpoon Therapeutics. “We are focused on selecting an initial dose to study in the expansion phase of the ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial in the first half of this year as we progress HPN217 forward as an innovative new treatment option for these patients.”
In November 2019, Harpoon Therapeutics and AbbVie announced a licensing agreement and option to advance HPN217 and expand an existing discovery collaboration. Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie may exercise its option to license HPN217 after completion of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial.
About Fast Track Designation
Fast Track is a process designed to facilitate the development, and expedite the review, of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. The purpose is to get important new drugs to the patient earlier. Fast Track addresses a broad range of serious conditions and the request can be initiated by the drug company at any time during the development process. FDA will review the request and decide based on whether or not the drug fills an unmet medical need in a serious condition. Once a drug receives Fast Track designation, early and frequent communication between the FDA and the sponsor is encouraged throughout the entire drug development and review process.
About Harpoon Therapeutics
Harpoon Therapeutics is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a novel class of T cell engagers that harness the power of the body’s immune system to treat patients suffering from cancer and other diseases. T cell engagers are engineered proteins that direct a patient’s own T cells to kill target cells that express specific proteins, or antigens, carried by the target cells. Using its proprietary Tri-specific T cell Activating Construct (TriTAC®) platform, Harpoon is developing a pipeline of novel TriTACs initially focused on the treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. HPN217 targets BCMA and is in a Phase 1/2 trial for relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma. HPN328 targets DLL3 and is in a Phase 1/2 trial for small cell lung cancer and other DLL3-associated tumors. HPN536 targets mesothelin and is in a Phase 1/2a trial for cancers expressing mesothelin, initially focused on ovarian and pancreatic cancers. HPN424 targets PSMA and is in a Phase 1/2a trial for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Harpoon has also developed a proprietary ProTriTAC™ platform, which applies a prodrug concept to its TriTAC platform to create a therapeutic T cell engager that remains inactive until it reaches the tumor. The company’s third proprietary technology platform, extended release TriTAC-XR, is designed to mitigate cytokine release syndrome. For additional information about Harpoon Therapeutics, please visit www.harpoontx.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “expect,” “potential,” “target,” “will,” and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Harpoon Therapeutics’ expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties that could cause Harpoon Therapeutics’ clinical development programs, future results or performance to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about the development and advancement of Harpoon Therapeutics’ platforms and product candidates, including progress, timing, scope, design and interim results of clinical trials, ability of TriTAC-XR T cell engager platform to mitigate toxicities, such as cytokine release syndrome, the candidates safety and tolerability profile, the use of T cell engagers for the treatment of non-oncology diseases in addition to solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, and other statements that are not historical fact. Many factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results, including unexpected safety or efficacy data observed during clinical studies, preliminary data and trends may not be predictive of future data or results, may not demonstrate safety or efficacy or lead to regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory agencies, clinical trial site activation or enrollment rates that are lower than expected, unanticipated or greater than anticipated impacts or delays due to COVID-19, changes in expected or existing competition, changes in the regulatory environment, the uncertainties and timing of the regulatory approval process, the timing and results of unexpected litigation or other disputes, and the sufficiency of Harpoon Therapeutics’ cash resources. These and other factors that may cause Harpoon Therapeutics’ actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in Harpoon Therapeutics’ filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including under “Risk Factors” in Harpoon Therapeutics’ quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and future filings by Harpoon Therapeutics. Except as required by law, Harpoon Therapeutics assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, even as new information becomes available.
Contacts:
Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc.
Georgia Erbez
Chief Financial Officer
650-443-7400
media@harpoontx.com
ICR Westwicke
Robert H. Uhl
Managing Director
858-356-5932
robert.uhl@westwicke.com
