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Corvus Pharmaceuticals Announces Publication of Preclinical Data Demonstrating Potential Novel Approach to Immunotherapy Based on Inhibition of ITK with Soquelitinib (CPI-818)
Data highlights the differentiated mechanism of action of soquelitinib to enhance anti-tumor immune response to hematologic and solid tumors Soquelitinib
About this update from Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" Data highlights the differentiated mechanism of action of soquelitinib to enhance anti-tumor immune response to hematologic and solid tumors Soquelitinib shown to increase infiltration of cancer killing T cells with greater potency and less resistance due to exhaustion BURLINGAME, Calif., July 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRVS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced the publication of preclinical data on soquelitinib (formerly known as CPI-818), the Company’s ITK inhibitor product candidate, which highlighted the selective inhibition of ITK to potentially enhance anti-tumor immune response to hematologic and solid tumors and provide a novel approach to cancer immunotherapy. The publication, entitled “Selective Inhibition of Interleukin 2 Inducible T Cell Kinase (ITK) Enhances Anti-Tumor Immunity in Association with Th1-skewing, Cytotoxic T cell Activation, and Reduced T Cell Exhaustion,” provides a detailed overview of the chemical structure, enzymatic activity and immunobiologic properties of soquelitinib. The published research was a result of collaborations between scientists at Corvus and researchers at the University of Michigan, The Ohio State University, Peking University and Stanford University. The publication is now available online as a preprint at bioRxiv.org and on the Publications and Presentations page of the Corvus website. “This significant scientific report demonstrates the potential of highly selective ITK inhibition, now enabled by soquelitinib. The data indicate that that this mechanism, if approved, may become the backbone of a new immunotherapy approach to cancer and we believe it will extend the opportunity for the continued development of soquelitinib as a single agent or in combination with other therapies to treat a variety of cancer tumor types,” said Richard A. Miller., co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Corvus. The findings reported indicate that ITK is a novel drug target and its blockade may enhance the body’s immune response to cancer. ITK is an enzyme predominantly expressed by T lymphocytes. ITK plays a major role in the function of T cells which are generally acknowledged as a critical cell in the immunotherapy of cancer. Soquelitinib is currently being studied in a Phase 1/1b clinical trial as a single agent therap...