- AMP-CpG efficiently targets the lymph nodes to promote potent and comprehensive innate immune activation resulting in enhanced T and B cell responses with improved functionality and persistence
- Application of AMP-CpG enables potent anti-tumor responses in multiple settings of therapy including therapeutic vaccination and TCR-T cell therapy
- Application of AMP-CpG enables potent and balanced immunity, including CD8 and CD4 T cells as well as neutralizing cross-reactive antibodies, against viral pathogens
BOSTON, March 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Elicio Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, today announced the presentation of preclinical data demonstrating that its lymph node-targeted CpG TLR9 agonist, Amphiphile-CpG (AMP-CpG), induces potent immune and anti-tumor responses, at the STING & TLR-Targeting Therapies Summit 2022 Digital Event, being held virtually from March 22-24, 2022. The electronic presentation is accessible here.
“We are excited to see the preclinical responses observed across studies with our AMP platform. These responses reinforce previous findings and continue to demonstrate how targeted delivery of AMP-CpG to the lymph nodes promotes a potent cellular immune response to the respective disease-associated antigens – validating our lymph node-targeted approach to treating cancer and infectious diseases,” said Peter DeMuth, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Elicio Therapeutics. “These preclinical datasets have also informed our AMP boosting approach to enhance established T cell receptor therapies (TCR-Ts).”
The AMP platform is designed to deliver therapeutic payloads directly to the lymph nodes, the “schoolhouse” of the immune system, activating a potent, functional and durable immune response. Elicio’s AMP platform with the CpG adjuvant has been shown to enhance the accumulation of AMP-CpG bound payloads in the lymph nodes, thus educating the body’s immune cells and resulting in a more potent immune response. This has enabled Elicio to unlock the untapped potential of lymph node-targeting for the treatment of several indications. In SARS-CoV-2, for example, vaccination with AMP-CpG demonstrated potent and durable T cell responses across several variants of concern. When combined with TCR-Ts, AMP-CpG enhances TCR-T cell persistence and anti-tumor function. Elicio has also demonstrated potent responses with its AMP-CpG adjuvant across a range of other antigens including those from Epstein-Barr virus, human papillomavirus and influenza.
Presentation Details
Title: Lymph-Node Targeted TLR9 Agonists Enable Potent Cellular Immune Responses Against Cancer & Infectious Disease
Highlights from the Presentation
- AMP-CpG efficiently targets the lymph nodes to promote potent and comprehensive innate immune activation resulting in enhanced T and B cell responses with improved functionality and persistence
- Application of AMP-CpG enables potent anti-tumor responses in multiple settings of therapy including therapeutic vaccination and TCR-T cell therapy
- Application of AMP-CpG enables potent and balanced immunity, including CD8 and CD4 T cells as well as neutralizing cross-reactive antibodies, against viral pathogens
About the Amphiphile Platform
Our proprietary Amphiphile, or AMP, platform delivers investigational immunotherapeutics directly to the “brain center” of the immune system – the lymph nodes. We believe this site-specific delivery of disease-specific antigens, adjuvants, and other immunomodulators may efficiently educate, activate, and amplify critical immune cells, potentially resulting in induction and persistence of potent adaptive immunity required to treat many diseases. In preclinical models, we have observed lymph node-specific engagement driving therapeutic immune responses of increased magnitude, function and durability. We believe our AMP lymph node-targeted approach will produce superior clinical benefits compared to immunotherapies that do not engage the lymph nodes.
Our AMP platform, originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, has broad potential across cancers, infectious diseases and other disease indications to advance a number of development initiatives through internal activities, in-licensing arrangements or development collaborations and partnerships.
The Amphiphile platform is thought to deliver immunotherapeutics directly to the lymph nodes by latching on to the protein albumin, found in the bloodstream, as it travels to lymphatic tissue. In preclinical models, we have observed lymph node-specific engagement driving therapeutic immune responses of increased magnitude, function and durability.
About Elicio Therapeutics
Elicio Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. By combining expertise in immunology and immunotherapy, Elicio is engineering investigational Amphiphile immunotherapies that are intended to precisely target and fully engage the lymph nodes, the site in our bodies where the immune response is orchestrated. Elicio is engineering lymph node-targeted AMPlifiers, immunomodulators, adjuvants and vaccines for an array of aggressive cancers and infectious diseases. Elicio began dosing subjects in AMPLIFY-201, its Phase 1/2 clinical trial in solid tumor subjects for its lead Amphiphile vaccine, ELI-002, targeting KRAS-driven cancers in the third quarter of 2021. The Amphiphile platform emerged from the laboratories of Darrell Irvine, Howard Hughes Investigator and Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. For more information, please visit https://elicio.com/.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from historical results or any future results, performance or achievements expressed, suggested or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding how the delivery of AMP-CpG to the lymph nodes continues to promote a potent cellular immune response to the respective disease-associated antigen and our expectations for our lymph node-targeted approach to treating cancer and infectious diseases, the ability of our proprietary AMP platform to deliver therapeutic payloads directly to the lymph nodes and our belief that it stimulates an enhanced immune response, and the general ability and potential of our proprietary Amphiphile, or AMP, platform, to deliver investigational immunotherapeutics directly to the lymph nodes, our belief that vaccination with AMP-CpG demonstrates potent and durable T cell responses across several variants of concern among SARS CoV-2 and across a range of other antigens including those from Epstein-Barr virus, human papillomavirus and influenza and that application of AMP-CpG enables potent and balanced immunity against viral pathogens including CD8 and CD4 T cells and neutralizing cross-reactive antibodies. Applicable risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from historical results or any future results, performance or achievements expressed, suggested or implied by our forward-looking statements include, among others: the potential that we experience slower than expected enrollment in our clinical trials, we identify serious side effects or other safety issues, we do not have clinical supply of our product candidate that is adequate in amount and quality and supplied in a timely fashion, and the inherent risks of clinical development; the results of our clinical trials do not continue to support our approach and expectation of lymph node-targeting for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases; our limited operating history and historical losses; our need to raise capital to fund our research and development programs; the early stage nature of the development of our product candidates; our ability to obtain orphan drug designation from the FDA; competition from various competitors in the markets targeted by our product candidates, including from competitors with substantially greater resources than us; our general dependence on third parties in connection with manufacturing, clinical trials and preclinical studies; the potential complexity of the manufacturing process for our product candidates; our ability to protect our intellectual property; our dependence on the patents we license from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT; our compliance with healthcare laws and regulations; and risks relating to the impact on of COVID-19 or other infectious diseases on our business. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect our current views with respect to future events, and we do not undertake and specifically disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Media Contact
Gloria Gasaatura
LifeSci Communications
+1 646-970-4688
ggasaatura@lifescicomms.com
