Seattle, WA, April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Outpace Bio, a cell therapy company that is solving the major barriers to curing solid tumors with unrivaled AI-powered protein design, today announced that nonclinical data will be presented in three poster presentations at the upcoming 2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting being held April 5-10, 2024, in San Diego, CA.
The upcoming presentations highlight the Company’s progress in advancing lead pipeline program OPB-101, a mesothelin-specific CAR T cell therapeutic candidate engineered for unprecedented efficacy, powered by Outpace’s end-to-end platform capabilities in computational protein design, synthetic biology, cell programming, & translational immunology. New data will also be presented on tumor-restricted IL-12, which is designed leveraging Outpace’s OUTSMARTTM technology to enhance solid tumor T cell therapies and is being advanced through a collaboration between Lyell Immunopharma and Outpace.
“T cell therapies have so far demonstrated modest efficacy against solid tumors, limited in part by poor expansion and functional persistence,” said Outpace CSO Aaron Foster, PhD. “Our lead program OPB-101 incorporates multiple Outpace technologies that together drive durable responses in stringent preclinical models at very low treatment doses. These attributes could potentially address the key barriers to efficacy and safety observed in previous solid tumor clinical studies.”
Details of the poster presentations during the AACR annual meeting are below.
Outpace will disclose features and findings of OPB-101, a novel, multi-transgene T cell therapeutic candidate engineered for the treatment of MSLN+ tumors in a poster titled, “OPB-101: An optimized mesothelin-specific CAR T cell product expressing CD8-targeted IL-2/15 and engineered to resist T cell exhaustion.” OPB-101 was designed using 1) an optimized mesothelin (MSLN)-directed CAR utilizing OUTSPACERTM technology; 2) a novel regulated OUTLASTTM promoter (OP1) which mediates resistance to T cell exhaustion; 3) a CD8α-targeted designed IL-2 cytokine (OUTSMARTTM IL-2/15) which focuses activity on effector T and NK cells, but avoids activation of immune suppressive T regulatory cells; and 4) an EGFR-based safety switch (EGFRoptTM) engineered for improved performance using clinically approved EGFR-targeted antibodies. The combination of these technologies demonstrate outstanding efficacy and complete elimination of solid tumors in stringent mouse tumor xenograft models at very low treatment doses (as low as 50,000 cells). These technologies were designed to fit within a standard lentivirus and to be compatible with established clinical scale manufacturing processes. OPB-101 is the company’s lead pipeline program and is on track for an IND submission in Q4 2024.
Presentation details:
Session: Adoptive Cell Therapies 2: CAR-T Cells
Abstract Number: 51
Presenting Author: Rupesh Amin, PhD, Sr. Director, CAR-T Pipeline
Date/Time: Sunday, April 7, 2024, 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Outpace will present a poster titled “In vitro modeling of antigen-driven exhaustion in human CAR T cells” in this session. A major hurdle for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to eliminate solid tumors is that chronic antigen stimulation can lead to CAR T cell dysfunction and limited persistence following infusion. Outpace has developed two new in vitro assays (a chronic antigen stimulation assay and a high-mesothelin (MSLN)-expressing spheroid killing assay) that drive an exhausted phenotype in human MSLN-specific CAR T cells. These assays can be used to rapidly evaluate technologies that improve T cell fitness and prolong CAR-T cell anti-tumor effects, and their results closely correlate with in vivo anti-tumor responses in stringent mouse tumor models.
Presentation details:
Session: Late Breaking Research: Immunology 1
Abstract Number: LB070
Presenting Author: Maria Steele, PhD, Scientist II
Date/Time: Sunday, April 7, 2024, 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
A poster presentation titled “Development of Tumor-restricted IL-12 With Antigen-dependent Expression and Localized IL-12 Activity” highlights an innovative tumor-restricted IL-12 (trIL-12) technology that delivers potent IL-12 stimulation at the tumor site while avoiding systemic exposure. IL-12 is an immune-stimulatory cytokine that can induce potent anti-tumor activity, but unregulated systemic delivery of IL-12 has been shown to have a limited therapeutic window. trIL-12 was designed leveraging Outpace’s OUTSMART™ technology to rapidly auto-inactivate IL-12 after inducible secretion from engineered T cells with the aim of achieving safe, local delivery of IL-12 activity in the tumor microenvironment. trIL-12 is being advanced under a collaboration between Lyell and Outpace with the goal of improving efficacy for T-cell therapies by harnessing the therapeutic potential of IL-12.
Presentation details:
Session: Adoptive Cell Therapies 2: Immune Modulation with Cytokines
Abstract Number: 4067
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
For more information about Outpace bio, visit outpacebio.com.
About Outpace Bio
Outpace Bio is using unrivaled AI-powered protein design to deliver on the promise of cell therapy for solid tumors by programming cells for improved function inside the patient. The company designs proteins that solve the key barriers to efficacy: poor access to the tumor, weak survival, rapid inactivation, antigen escape, and high required doses that drive toxicity. Outpace combines modular, plug-and-play technology assets to create cell therapies with unprecedented efficacy and is advancing an internal pipeline of engineered T cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumors. Lead program OPB-101, a mesothelin-specific CAR T cell therapeutic candidate, demonstrates complete elimination of solid tumors in stringent in vivo models at very low treatment doses (as low as 50,000 cells) and is on track for IND submission in Q4 2024. Outpace’s approach to internal and partnered pipeline development is optimized for rapid clinical validation of its technologies across diverse cell types, manufacturing processes, and disease indications. Outpace is based in Seattle, Washington. To learn more, visit outpacebio.com or email info@outpacebio.com and follow on Twitter and Instagram @OutpaceBio.
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