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Marker Therapeutics Reports Non-Clinical Proof-of-Concept Data and Update on Clinical Readiness for the MT-401 Off-the-Shelf Program
HOUSTON, Aug. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marker Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRKR), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focusing on developing
About this update from Marker Therapeutics, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"HOUSTON, Aug. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marker Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRKR), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focusing on developing next-generation T cell-based immunotherapies for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumor indications, today announced non-clinical data of its lead multi-tumor-associated antigen (multiTAA)-specific T cell product candidate, MT-401, in an Off-the-Shelf (OTS) setting and provided an update on clinical readiness for the OTS program. Non-Clinical Proof-of-Concept Data of MT-401 OTSIn a set of in vitro experiments, the Research and Development team at Marker demonstrated anti-tumor activity of MT-401 OTS in a partially human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched setting to kill THP-1 cells, an aggressive treatment-resistant Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) cell line. The results of this non-clinical study have been posted on the Investor Relations section of the Marker website and are briefly summarized below: THP-1 cells were genetically modified to be bioluminescent, allowing long-term, undisturbed tracking of AML cell growth.THP-1 cell growth was followed for 5 days in the presence or absence of MT-401 OTS (manufactured from healthy donors matching 2/8 HLA alleles to THP-1 cells).Leukemic cell growth was significantly reduced when treated with MT-401 OTS.Meanwhile, untreated THP-1 cells continued to grow in the absence of treatment.Microscopic analysis confirmed the MT-401 OTS-induced killing of AML cells.MT-401 OTS demonstrated a significant anti-tumor effect in vitro with just 2/8 matched HLA alleles, suggesting that this low level of matching criteria may be useful for future OTS clinical studies.The low level of allele matching would open the door to an OTS AML killing cell bank that could be suitable for many patients. “We recently developed this long-term in vitro model to monitor the interaction of cancer cells with multiTAA-specific T cells and to further investigate the tumor killing capacity of the MT-401 OTS product,” said Eric A. Smith, Ph.D., Director of Research and Development of Marker Therapeutics. “In collaboration with Alexandre Carisey, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Baylor College of Medicine, we used live cell confocal microscopy to visualize the potential of MT-401 OTS to eliminate tumor cells and confirm our previous observations. These non-clinical data...