On December 16, 2024 Xenetic Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:XBIO) ("Xenetic" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing innovative immuno-oncology technologies addressing hard to treat cancers, reported it has extended its previously announced Research Funding Agreement (the "Agreement") with the University of Virginia ("UVA") to advance the development of its systemic DNase program through 2025 (Press release, Xenetic Biosciences, DEC 16, 2024, View Source [SID1234649139]).
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Xenetic’s DNase-based oncology platform is designed to target neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which are weblike structures composed of extracellular chromatin coated with histones and other proteins. In cancer, NETs are expelled by activated neutrophils into the tumor microenvironment (TME) and blood, thereby promoting cancer spread, local and systemic immunosuppression, as well as cancer-associated thrombosis. Reduction of NETs burden via application of Xenetic’s proprietary recombinant human DNase I has been shown to improve efficacy of immunotherapy, adoptive cell therapy and chemotherapy in preclinical animal models.
"Allan Tsung, MD, and the team at UVA continue to be valued partners and we are pleased with the progress under the Agreement in evaluating the potential addition of DNase to available treatment options in areas of significant unmet need. The preclinical and translational data that UVA has accumulated under the initial Scope of Work to the Agreement further strengthens the scientific rationale for investigating combinations of DNase I with immunotherapies and chemotherapies. In the next phase of this partnership, UVA will continue to investigate combinations of DNase I with immunotherapies in models of primary and metastatic colorectal cancer. As a surgical oncologist and scientist, Dr. Tsung is internationally recognized for leading substantial research on the role of NETs in tumor growth, metastasis, and resistance to existing cancer therapies and we look forward to leveraging that expertise as we advance our technology toward the clinic," commented Reid P. Bissonnette, Ph.D., Executive Consultant for Translational Research and Development of Xenetic.
Under the terms of the Agreement, in addition to advancing Xenetic’s existing intellectual property, Xenetic has an option to acquire an exclusive license to any new intellectual property arising from the DNase research program. Allan Tsung, MD, a member of the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the UVA School of Medicine, will continue to oversee the research conducted under the Agreement. Xenetic is working toward its planned first-in-human study to evaluate DNase combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors or chemotherapy.