Clinically validated pH-sensitive nanomedicine platform allows for tumor specific delivery of protein therapeutics and increased tolerability
SOUTHLAKE, Texas – November 14, 2022 – OncoNano Medicine, Inc. today announced the presentations of positive preclinical data on the company’s ON-BOARD™ pH-activatable delivery platform at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) in Boston, Massachusetts.
The data presented at SITC 2022 demonstrated the capability of the ON-BOARD™ platform for effective encapsulation and improvement of the therapeutic index of a variety of therapeutic payloads, including bispecific T cell engagers (TCE) and a therapeutic cytokine – IL-2-Fc, using relevant animal models.
The ON-BOARD™ platform is designed to protect oncology intervention payloads systemically and release them in the acidic tumor microenvironment, minimizing systemic exposure and toxicity. OncoNano’s lead clinical candidate, pegsitacianine, currently in Phase 2 clinical trials, is formulated with ON-BOARD™, and the clinical data has validated its pH-activated tumor specificity.
In the two separate presentations, a variety of TCEs including solitomab, runimotamab and several TCEs with undisclosed targets as well as a human IL-2 fused with IgG Fc were encapsulated using the ON- BOARD™ platform. The data demonstrated that:
- ON-BOARD™ successfully encapsulated TCEs across a range of different targets and structural configurations without any protein engineering involved
- ON-BOARD™-encapsulated TCEs demonstrated rapid release and high pH specificity as well as pH- activated cytotoxicity against various cancer cell lines in vitro
- ON-BOARD™ encapsulation of an undisclosed TCE significantly improved its tolerability in vivo compared to the unencapsulated molecule and inhibited the growth of a poorly immunogenic “cold” tumor model with in-tumor payload activation confirmed by PD markers
- ON-BOARD™-encapsulated IL-2-Fc showed robust anti-tumor efficacy in both the “hot” MC38 and the “cold” B16F10 tumors and greatly suppressed systemic toxicity compared to unencapsulated IL-2-Fc
“We were excited to share the positive data on the encapsulation of a variety of bispecific T cell engagers and a therapeutic cytokine and the significant improvement of therapeutic index without complicated protein engineering,” said Tian Zhao, PhD, Vice President of Research and Development at OncoNano. “We look forward to developing this technology for clinical translation with these types of payload molecules in the near future.”
Presentation Overview
Title: A Clinically Validated pH-Sensitive Nanomedicine Platform for Encapsulating Therapeutic Bispecific T Cell Engagers for Tumor Specific Delivery and Activation
Date: November 10 – 11, 2022
Time: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm EST
Location: Poster Hall, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, MA
Title: Ultra-pH Sensitive Nanoparticles Increase Therapeutic Index of IL-2-Fc
Date: November 12, 2022
Time: 10:40 am – 10:50 am EST
Location: Session 302: Thomas Waldmann Memorial Plenary Session: New Immunotherapies, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, MA
About OncoNano Medicine
OncoNano Medicine is developing a new class of products that utilize principles of molecular cooperativity in their design to exploit pH as a biomarker to diagnose and treat cancer with high specificity. Our product candidates and interventions are designed to help patients across the continuum of cancer care and include solid tumor therapeutics, agents for real-time image guided surgery and a platform of immuno- oncology therapeutics that activate and guide the body’s immune system to target cancer.
OncoNano’s lead development candidate is pegsitacianine, a novel fluorescent nanoprobe using the ON- BOARD™ platform, that is currently under study in Phase 2 clinical trials as a real-time surgical imaging agent for use in multiple cancer surgeries. ONM-501, OncoNano’s second development program, is a next generation STING (STimulator of INterferon Genes) agonist that is advancing towards a first in human trial in the first half of 2023. Pegsitacianine and ONM-501 have been supported by grants received from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas. Learn more at www.OncoNano.com.
Contacts
MacDougall Advisors
Lauren Arnold
(781) 235-3060
larnold@macdougall.bio
