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Inovio Presents Cancer Killing Data of Its Transformative DNA-Encoded Bi-specific T Cell Engagers (dBiTEs) at AACR
Data demonstrates tumor-clearing ability of Inovio's dBiTE technology in preclinical cancer model PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pennsylvania, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/
About this update from Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Data demonstrates tumor-clearing ability of Inovio's dBiTE technology in preclinical cancer model\n PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pennsylvania, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INO) announced today the company's novel DNA-Encoded Bi-specific T Cell Engagers (dBiTEs™) generated potent anti-tumor activities in a preclinical study. Results were presented as a poster at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Atlanta. For this study, Inovio, with its collaborators at The Wistar Institute, developed a novel dBiTE targeting the HER2 molecule which was tested in therapeutic models for the treatment of ovarian and breast cancers. Importantly, just a single dose of Inovio's HER2 dBiTE resulted in high levels of corresponding BiTE in mice for four months, far exceeding what is typically displayed with conventional BiTE's short half-life of only a few hours. The HER2 dBiTE effectively generated T cell cytotoxicity against HER2-expressing tumor cells resulting in a near-complete tumor clearance. Also presented was Inovio's CD19 dBiTE which can kill B cell cancers by targeting B cell specific marker CD19.\nDr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio's President and CEO, said, \"In layman's terms, dBiTEs are like a double-sided tape that binds to a tumor and to a cancer-killing T cell. By allowing the products be expressed directly and efficiently in the patient, our dBiTEs could finally fulfill the therapeutic promise of BiTEs. Based on these promising preclinical results, we are rapidly preparing for the clinical development of our dBiTE candidates, as well as constructing more cancer tumor targeting dBiTE candidates using our transformative dBiTE platform.\"\nDr. Kim added, \"Leveraging Inovio's in vivo synthetic nucleic expression platform, we have shown that just one dose of Inovio's dBiTE could generate corresponding BiTEs at high levels in mice for several months, demonstrating a dramatic advantage over conventional BiTEs. Our CD19 dBiTE has the potential to treat multiple B cell cancers and to compete favorably with CD19 CAR-T products with potentially improved tolerability and safety profiles. Similarly, the HER2 dBiTE could be used to treat multiple solid tumors which express HER2 such as breast, ovarian, and gastric cancers.\" \nBiTEs are a class of artificial bi-specific monoclonal antibodies tha...