Business
Agenus Presents Data on AGEN1571 (anti-ILT2) at AACR and Announces IND Clearance
First data presentation on AGEN1571 shows strong adaptive and innate immune responsesPreclinical data indicate superior performance to the only clinical-stage
About this update from Agenus Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"First data presentation on AGEN1571 shows strong adaptive and innate immune responsesPreclinical data indicate superior performance to the only clinical-stage competitorMonotherapy activity and broad combination potentialInvestigational New Drug (IND) application cleared; clinical trial to commence LEXINGTON, Mass., April 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agenus Inc. (Nasdaq: AGEN), an immuno-oncology company with an extensive pipeline of therapeutics designed to activate immune response to cancers and infections, today announced the first presentation of preclinical data from AGEN1571 – a novel anti-ILT2 antibody designed to modulate tumor-associated macrophages, T, NK and NKT cells. These data are being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting being held April 8-12 in New Orleans, LA. “The ILT receptor family represents a key suppressor of anti-tumor immunity that contributes to resistance to CTLA-4 and PD-1 directed therapies.” said Steven O’Day, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Agenus. “Blocking this receptor family offers the potential to overcome this resistance. This approach is validated by the durable clinical responses achieved in PD-1 resistant cancers with an ILT4 antagonist discovered by Agenus and licensed to Merck. AGEN1571 represents our first fully-owned clinical stage myeloid targeting agent.” Presentation highlights: ILT2 offers a greater potential to overcome resistance to approved immunotherapies compared to ILT4. It provides a more prominent and broader expression profile across immune cell types in the tumor microenvironment.AGEN1571 demonstrates superior functional activity compared to the clinical-stage competitor with: ~10-fold higher binding affinity to all isoforms of ILT2, enabling superior binding to cells expressing low levels of ILT2Complete blockade of ILT2-ligand interactions for more effective immune activation and anti-tumor therapeutic potentialEnhanced activation of T, NK, and NKT cells for improved tumor-killingSuperior ability to switch myeloid cells to a pro-inflammatory state, which further boosts T and NK cell immunityHigher potency in boosting endogenous anti-tumor immunity to synergize with the patient’s anti-tumor antibodies or targeted therapies Combinations with botensilimab (Fc-enhanced CTLA-4) and other immuno-oncology agents lead to stronger immune ...